Graham comments on President Trump’s response

On Wednesday, July 18, U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) made this statement. “I have just been reassured unequivocally by the White House legislative team that the President’s ‘no’ response today to shouted questions was not intended to suggest that President Trump doubts the intelligence community’s assessment that Russia is continuing to attack our critical infrastructure in the 2018 elections. I’m very pleased to hear this and I stand ready to work with the Administration to harden our electoral system against all foreign interference, including Russia. The warnings from the intelligence community could not be more clear. Republicans and Democrats working with the President need to act quickly. All relevant agencies should provide us their suggestions and recommendations about how to harden our 2018 election systems against foreign interference, and Congress should act quickly as time is running out regarding the 2018 elections. I had a very good conversation today with DNI Coats who informed me that he has numerous proposals that could help secure our 2018 elections. And I told him the sooner these could be implemented, the better. I also talked with Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Dunford who said that the Department of Defense can help states in securing their election systems. This should be a whole of government approach and bipartisan. All of us should have an interest in protecting our electoral system, which is one of the crown jewels of our democracy.”