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Senate Select Committee on Intelligence Vice Chairman Mark Warner, D-Va., left, joined by Chairman Richard Burr, R-N.C., updates reporters on the status of their inquiry into Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. elections, at the Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, Oct. 4, 2017. Burr says the committee has interviewed more than 100 witnesses as part of its investigation and that more work still needs to be done.
U.S. Sens. Richard Burr, R-N.C., left, and Mark Warner, D-Va., enter a meeting of the Senate Intelligence Committee on Sept. 7, 2017, in Washington, D.C. U.S. Sens. Richard Burr, R-N.C., left, and Mark Warner, D-Va., enter a meeting of the Senate Intelligence Committee on Sept.
Social media giant Facebook is expected to provide Congress on Monday with more than 3,000 ads that ran around the time of the 2016 presidential election and are linked to a Russian ad agency. Company officials will meet with the House and Senate intelligence committees and the Senate Judiciary Committee to hand over the ads, a Facebook official said.
Facebook Inc said it plans on Monday to turn over to the U.S. Congress copies of some 3,000 ads that the social network says were bought on Facebook likely by people in Russia in the months before and after the 2016 U.S. election. Last month, in response to calls from U.S. lawmakers, Facebook Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg pledged to hand over the ads to congressional investigators who are looking into alleged Russian involvement in the U.S. presidential election, but he had left the timing unclear.
Facebook Inc said it plans on Monday to turn over to the US Congress copies of some 3,000 ads that the social network says were bought on Facebook likely by people in Russia in the months before and after the 2016 US election. Last month, in response to calls from US lawmakers, Facebook Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg pledged to hand over the ads to congressional investigators who are looking into alleged Russian involvement in the US presidential election, but he had left the timing unclear.
The first round of charges in special counsel Robert Mueller's ongoing investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 U.S. election were approved Friday -- but it's still not known what they are or who they target. A federal grand jury in Washington, D.C., approved the charges, CNN reported Friday , citing sources briefed in the matter.
Twitter's Carlos Monje, the director of public policy and philanthropy, right, knocks on the door with Colin Crowell, head of global public policy, to enter the closed door meeting with the House Intelligence Committee on Capitol Hill, Thursday, Sept. 28, 2017 in Washington.
Twitter's Carlos Monje, the director of public policy and philanthropy, right, knocks on the door with Colin Crowell, head of global public policy, to enter the closed door meeting Thursday with the House Intelligence Committee on Capitol Hill as part of the investigations into Russian interference in the 2016 elections. Alex Brandon/The Associated Press Twitter's Carlos Monje, the director of public policy and philanthropy, right, knocks on the door with Colin Crowell, head of global public policy, to enter the closed door meeting Thursday with the House Intelligence Committee on Capitol Hill as part of the investigations into Russian interference in the 2016 elections.
Twitter has informed Congress that it found and took action on roughly 200 accounts on its service after determining they were linked to Russia and sought to interfere in American politics. "Of the roughly 450 accounts that Facebook recently shared as a part of their review, we concluded that 22 had corresponding accounts on Twitter.
Twitter has shut down hundreds of accounts that were tied to the same Russian operatives who posted thousands of political ads to Facebook during the 2016 US election. The company said it found 22 accounts which were directly linked to the 450 Facebook accounts, found earlier this month.
Social media giant Twitter will visit Capitol Hill Thursday as part of the House and Senate investigations into Russian interference in the 2016 elections. Twitter's closed-door meetings with staff follow similar briefings from Facebook earlier this month, and the House and Senate panels have invited both tech giants, along with Google, to appear at public hearings this fall.
"We want to try to find a way," he said, "to make some of those ads and other information public." Facebook provided data about the pro-Trump propaganda to special counsel Robert Mueller's team after Mueller obtained a search warrant earlier this month.
Wisconsin, Ohio, California and 10 other states said on Friday they were among 21 states that Russian government hackers targeted in an effort to sway the 2016 presidential election in favor of Donald Trump though no votes were changed. The Department of Homeland Security confirmed it had notified the states of the activity but declined to identify them.
Virginia U.S. Sen. Mark Warner is praising the federal government's notification to 21 states about election hacking attempts last year but says it should have come sooner. The Democrat says it's unacceptable it took almost a year after the presidential election to notify states their elections systems were targeted.
The federal government on Friday told election officials in 21 states that hackers targeted their systems before last year's presidential election. The notification came roughly a year after U.S. Department of Homeland Security officials first said states were targeted by hacking efforts possibly connected to Russia.
Two Senate Democrats are trying to rally support for legislation that would require Facebook and other large web platforms to follow some of the same disclosure rules for political ads as broadcasters. On Thursday, Sens. Amy Klobucar and Mark Warner circulated a letter seeking co-sponsors for a bill aimed at increasing transparency of political ads.
The top Democrat on the Senate intelligence panel says he is pleased with Facebook's announcement that the company is going to provide Congress with thousands of ads bought by Russians and increase transparency. Virginia Sen. Mark Warner is writing a bill that would require social media companies to disclose who funded political ads, similar to television broadcasters.
In this June 21, 2017 file photo, special counsel Robert Mueller departs after a closed-door meeting with members of the Senate Judiciary Committee about Russian meddling in the election and possible connection to the Trump campaign, on Capitol Hill in Washington. Mueller's team of investigators is seeking information from the White House related to Michael Flynn's stint as national security adviser and about the response to a meeting with a Russian lawyer that was attended by President Donald Trump's oldest son, The Associated Press has learned.