Pelosi: Russian Hacking Report Is ‘Stunning in its Conclusions’
Minority Leader denounces ‘boldness of the Russians’ in election interference
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi said a forthcoming intelligence report outlining Russian interference in the U.S. presidential election was a “stunning disclosure.”
Following an intelligence briefing Friday morning, Pelosi and intelligence officials said parts of the report would be released Friday afternoon.
Without offering details on its contents, the California Democrat said she wanted more members of Congress to be able to see the full report and said she believed the hacking of emails belonging to Hillary Clinton’s campaign manager and Democratic National Committee officials helped cost the former secretary of State the presidency.
“It was really quite a stunning disclosure,” Pelosi said. “It’s stunning in its conclusions.”
Attendees at the briefing included House and Senate Democratic and Republican leaders as well as chairmen and ranking members of the intelligence committees in both chambers, known collectively as the “Gang of Eight.”
Pelosi said the report presented a strong indication that Russia interfered with the U.S. election.
“When the intelligence community presents something with a high level of confidence about the source, the tools, the path, the target, and it’s some specific detail, that is different from an impression you have or something in the public domain or the rest of that,” Pelosi said.
When asked what part of the report surprised her, Pelosi said nothing had.
“It’s just the boldness of the Russians,” she said.
Also Friday, President-elect Donald Trump, in a tweet, called on the leaders of congressional intelligence committees to investigate how NBC News obtained the “top secret intelligence” before his own briefing Friday.
I am asking the chairs of the House and Senate committees to investigate top secret intelligence shared with NBC prior to me seeing it.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 6, 2017
The Senate Intelligence Committee will hold an open hearing Tuesday on Russian intelligence activities.
Among those testifying are Director of National Intelligence James R. Clapper Jr., CIA Director John O. Brennan, FBI Director James B. Comey and National Security Agency Director Adm. Michael Rogers.
Ryan Lucas contributed to this report.