‘Russia Attacked Us’: Dem Senator Calls for Probe Similar to 9/11 Commission – WBNews

Sen. Ben Cardin (D-MD) is calling for an independent commission to be formed – similar to the 9/11 Commission – to investigate Russia’s interference in the election. Cardin, the ranking member on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, likened the current situation to the period after the 9/11 attacks, arguing that American national security could be vulnerable. “Russia attacked us. They attacked us in November in trying to compromise our free election system and there’s evidence that they’re continuing to try to infiltrate our country,” Cardin told Shannon Bream. He said the “blue-ribbon” commission should be non-partisan and have “broad powers” and would go beyond the current FBI criminal investigation. “Russia is trying to bring down our democratic institutions,” he said, adding that the Kremlin could be using similar tactics to undermine elections in Europe. Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-SC) said earlier on “America’s Newsroom” that the House Intelligence Committee has been investigating Russian meddling in the election “for months.” Gowdy said it’s not “serious” for Democrats to call for public hearings on classified information, adding that they’re more concerned with “politics … than actually finding out what happened.” Top House Democrats made similar calls yesterday on Capitol Hill, questioning whether President Donald Trump was aware of former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn’s contacts with Russian officials. “What did President Trump know and when did he know it?” multiple lawmakers asked. Taking to Twitter this morning, Trump denounced the repeated leaks from within the government and labeled the new reports about his…more detail