A bipartisan group of senators are calling for a probe into whether Russia influenced the presidential election after claims that the country illegally tried to swing the result in favor of Donald Trump.
The group, which includes former Republican presidential nominee John McCain, claims that “recent reports of Russian interference in our election should alarm every American,” and has called for a full investigation into the conclusions of various intelligence personnel.
Other members of the group include McCain’s fellow Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham, Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer, and Sen. Jack Reed, the highest sitting Democrat on the Armed Services Committee.
“While protecting classified material, we have an obligation to inform the public about recent cyberattacks that have cut to the heart of our free society,” the group wrote in a joint statement.
“Democrats and Republicans must work together, and across the jurisdictional lines of the Congress, to examine these recent incidents thoroughly and devise comprehensive solutions to deter and defend against further cyber-attacks,” they continued.
The cyberattacks refer to the multiple hacks carried out on the DNC databases, which led to Wikileaks publishing thousands of damaging emails from high level Democratic Party officials, including that of Hillary Clinton’s campaign chair John Podesta.
However, Wikileaks editor Julian Assange has since said that the information provided to the organization did not come from Russia.
Donald Trump’s transition team responded with mockery to claims of Russian interference, saying in a statement to reporters that “these are the same people that said Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction.”
“The election ended a long time ago in one of the biggest Electoral College victories in history. It’s now time to move on and ‘Make America Great Again’,” they added.
You can follow Ben Kew on Facebook, on Twitter at @ben_kew, or email him at bkew@breitbart.com