Shaheen Statement on Indictment of 12 Russian Nationals for 2016 Election Interference

(Washington, DC) – U.S. Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) issued the following statement in response to the Department of Justice’s announcement that a grand jury has indicted 12 Russian nationals for interfering in the 2016 US elections.

“This indictment of Russian intelligence officials reaffirms the assessment of our intelligence agencies that Russia interfered in our elections,” said Shaheen. “This indictment underscores how critical the Special Counsel investigation is to understand how Russia interfered in our 2016 elections and to prevent it from happening again. Deputy AG Rosenstein is right: politicians should refrain from trying to politicize this investigation and support pursuit of the facts. At his summit with Vladimir Putin on Monday, President Trump must confront him regarding evidence of Russian interference – it’s in the interest of every American to pursue justice and protect the sanctity of our democracy.”

Senator Shaheen has led efforts in Congress to hold Russia accountable for its interference in the 2016 elections, and was the first legislator to call for hearings into their meddling. Shaheen was also the first official to sound the alarm on the dangers of Kaspersky Lab, a Kremlin-linked software company used by some federal agency computers and networks. Kaspersky was used by Russian hackers to infiltrate a National Security Agency (NSA) contractor’s computer in 2015. Shaheen successfully ushered legislation through Congress to ban the software from being used on federal computers and connected networks. It was signed into law last year. Because of her leadership on Russian sanctions legislation and her efforts to hold Russia accountable for its actions, Shaheen was sanctioned by the Kremlin in December.