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Whether it's an attack on the banking infrastructure or disinformation campaigns on social media, the United States is "woefully unprepared" to combat cyber attacks and disinformation campaigns, Senator Mark Warner said on Saturday. Speaking at the SXSW festival, Warner said it's time to consider the liability of tech platforms and software makers.
U.S. President Donald Trump will not meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un unless Pyongyang takes "concrete actions," the White House said yesterday as it faced criticism for agreeing to talks that would boost Kim's standing. "The president will not have the meeting without seeing concrete steps and concrete actions take place by North Korea, so the president will actually be getting something," White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders told a news briefing.
Senators on the Intelligence Committee expressed deep frustration during a March 7 hearing focused on the government's lack of progress in reducing its 710,000-strong backlog of pending security clearance requests. Charles Phalen, director of the National Background Investigations Bureau, told lawmakers it would likely be years before they saw a significant reduction in the backlog.
According to The New York Times , the leaders of the Senate Intelligence Committee believe Republicans on the House Intelligence Committee leaked a text message exchange between Sen. Mark Warner of Virginia, the Senate panel's top Democrat, and Adam Waldman, a lawyer representing a Russian oligarch, to Fox News in February. The incident raises questions about whether the partisan infighting that has slowed the House probe is suddenly impacting Senate investigators, as well.
Senator Richard M. Burr, right, and Senator Mark Warner, the leaders of the Senate Intelligence Committee, were so perturbed by the leak of Mr. Warner's text messages that they demanded a rare meeting with Speaker Paul D. Ryan last month to inform him of their findings. WASHINGTON - The Senate Intelligence Committee has concluded that Republicans on the House Intelligence Committee were behind the leak of private text messages between the Senate panel's top Democrat and a Russian-connected lawyer, according to two congressional officials briefed on the matter.
President Donald Trump, unwilling to acknowledge the degree of Russian meddling in the 2016 election , has brushed aside numerous admonitions from Congress, outside experts and even his own advisers to harden our defenses against future interference. On Tuesday, Director of National Intelligence Daniel Coats was the latest to testify to Russia's threat to our democracy and our unpreparedness.
In an open session of the Senate committee's annual Worldwide Threat Assessment hearing on Tuesday, all six intelligence chiefs told Vice Chairman Sen. Mark Warner, D-Virginia, that they stood by the conclusions of a January 2017 assessment that said the Russian government -- at President Vladimir Putin's instruction -- "That this is going to happen, and the resilience needed for us to stand up and say we're not going to allow some Russian to tell us how to vote, how to run our country," Coats, who leads the nation's 17 intelligence agencies, said. "I think there needs to be a national cry for that."
The nation's top intelligence chiefs were united Tuesday in declaring that Russia is continuing efforts to disrupt the U.S. political system and is targeting the 2018 midterm election, after its successful operation to sow discord in the most recent presidential campaign. The assessment stands in contrast to President Donald Trump, who has mocked the very notion of Russian interference in the 2016 election and lashed out at those who have suggested otherwise.
Leaders of the Senate Intelligence Committee hope to have public findings on improving election security before primary contests get underway. That's what Intelligence Chairman Richard M. Burr, a Republican from North Carolina, and Mark Warner, a Virginia Democrat said in wrapping up the open portion of the annual hearing on "Worldwide Threats."
Democrats on Capitol Hill slammed President Donald Trump's budget proposal and infrastructure plan, arguing Monday it doesn't address the needs of the American people. While it wasn't a total surprise, many senators said Monday afternoon they want to focus on funding the government through March before worrying about the new fiscal year.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., center, and Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., left, the vice chair of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, head to a closed security briefing at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, Feb. 6, 2018. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi says she and many fellow Democrats will oppose an expected bipartisan budget deal unless Republicans allow the chamber to vote on legislation protecting immigrants.
President Donald Trump listens during a meeting with law enforcement officials on the MS-13 street gang and border security, in the Cabinet Room of the White House, Tuesday, Feb. 6, 2018, in Washington. . Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., smiles as he meets with reporters as work continues on a plan to keep the government as a funding deadline approaches, at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, Feb. 6, 2018.
Consumer advocates on Monday urged the Trump administration to resume an investigation into how Equifax failed to protect the personal data of millions of consumers after Reuters reported the head of the U.S. consumer watchdog has pulled back on the existing probe. On Monday, Reuters reported that Mick Mulvaney, head of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau , has dialed back the investigation begun by his predecessor, Richard Cordray.
President Donald Trump listens during a meeting with law enforcement officials on the MS-13 street gang and border security, in the Cabinet Room of the White House, Tuesday, Feb. 6, 2018, in Washington. . Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., smiles as he meets with reporters as work continues on a plan to keep the government as a funding deadline approaches, at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, Feb. 6, 2018.
By TOM LoBIANCO Associated Press WASHINGTON - President Donald Trump pushed back Friday against reports that he ordered White House lawyer Don McGahn to fire special counsel Robert Mueller last June.
President Donald Trump demanded the firing of special counsel Robert Mueller last June but backed down after White House lawyer Don McGahn threatened to resign, according to a New York Times report that Trump quickly dismissed Friday as "fake news." The newspaper reported that Trump demanded Mueller's firing just weeks after the special counsel was first appointed by Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein.
President Donald Trump called for special counsel Robert Mueller's firing last June, according to one person familiar with the matter. White House counsel Don McGahn refused to order the Justice Department to fire Mueller because he disagreed with the President's reasoning, the source said.
Trump gave the order to fire the man leading the investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election, but he backed down after the top White House counsel told him the firing would decimate public confidence in the presidency, reports say President Donald Trump says he's "looking forward" to being interviewed by special counsel Robert Mueller. Speaking to reporters Wednesday, Trump says he'd be willing to answer questions under oath.
President Donald Trump speaks to a gathering of mayors in the East Room of the White House in Washington, Wednesday, Jan. 24, 2018. Trump says he's "looking forward" to being interviewed by special counsel Robert Mueller.