IRVINE, Calif. _ Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., said Tuesday that the alleged Russian meddling in last year's presidential election was about far more than favoring one candidate over another; he said it was an effort to undermine the foundation of American democracy in order to prop up an authoritarian regime in Moscow.
"Now if you look at this as just a one-off intervention, you might be inclined to dismiss the greater significance of it, or if you listen to the president, you might be inclined to dismiss this as simply efforts to re-litigate a lost election," Schiff told several hundred people at the University of California, Irvine, where he spoke about the Russia investigation for nearly a half hour before sitting down with UC Irvine School of Law founding dean Erwin Chemerinsky for an hourlong question-and-answer session. "But the significance is really far greater. Quite separate and apart from the desire of the Russians to help Donald Trump and hurt Hillary Clinton was a more fundamental objective, and that was really to tear down at our democracy."
Schiff is the ranking Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, which is investigating allegations of Russian intervention in the presidential election, including the leaking of hacked Democratic emails and contacts between Trump associates and Russians.
Trump has declared the investigation the "single greatest witch hunt of a politician in American history" on Twitter. Rep. Devin Nunes, R-Calif., the former chairman of the committee, recently told hundreds of Republicans at a fundraiser that the investigation is about nothing more than Democrats trying to justify Clinton's loss. Nunes stepped down from his position after allegations arose that he mishandled classified information.
Schiff said Russian President Vladimir Putin would have reasons for wanting to see Clinton fail and Trump succeed _ he believed that the CIA and Clinton were secretly behind mass demonstrations in Russia in 2011, and because Trump's positions on issues such as NATO were more favorable to Russia than Clinton's.
But Schiff argued the larger point was sowing discord in the U.S., so Putin could argue that American democracy is no better than his government. Talk of rigged elections and surveillance, questioning the independence of the judiciary and freedom of the press _ as Trump has done _ boost Putin's message, Schiff said. And the efforts are not limited to the United States, he added, pointing to allegations that the Russians made an effort to interfere in France's recent election.
"The reality is there is new ideological struggle. It's not communism versus capitalism anymore. It is authoritarian versus democracy," he said. "This is the broader challenge we are facing."
Schiff also warned that there is no way to prevent Russian cyberspying and that future attempts to interfere with American elections will only be more sophisticated, so voters must be educated.
"One of the most important conclusions the intelligence agencies have reached is the Russians will do this again," he said. "The only real defense is to inoculate ourselves, to educate ourselves about what the Russians have done, why they are doing what they may do in the future and somehow we have to develop a consensus regardless of which party it helps and which party it hurts _ that we will reject it."
