Ranking Member Johnson Response to Majority Staff Report on “Russia’s Social Media Meddling in U.S. Energy Markets”
(Dallas, TX) – Earlier today, the Majority released a staff report titled, “Russian Attempts to Influence U.S. Domestic Energy Markets by Exploiting Social Media.”
Ranking Member Eddie Bernice Johnson’s (D-TX) response is below.
“The Majority’s staff report on alleged Russian interference in U.S. energy markets was presented to me this morning and I will thoroughly review it. Regardless, it has become apparent that the Russians have been attempting to interfere across our society. Most importantly, it is ‘incontrovertible’ that the Russians interfered in our 2016 election and repeatedly attempted to penetrate our election infrastructure, in stark contrast to the reassuring tone of the Committee’s 2016 hearing on election security. Democrats on the Committee have repeatedly asked the Chairman to look into this issue and have been ignored. To ignore known meddling in the very foundation of our democracy while focusing solely on Russia’s influence on the U.S. energy market – a market that is currently booming – seems irresponsible at best.
“Concerning the section on climate change, I would like to point out that even if everything in this report regarding meddling is 100% accurate, it does not in any way undermine the conclusions of the respected scientific institutions and organizations in our country that climate change is happening and it is growing threat to our economy and our public health. We must do everything in our power to address it as quickly as possible.”
Minority staff report, “Old Tactics, New Tools: A Review of Russia’s Soft Cyber Influence Operations” can be found here.
Letter requesting a hearing on election issues from Ranking Member Johnson and Oversight Ranking Member, Congressman Don Beyer (D-VA) can be found here.
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