House OKs intelligence bill that sets up new panel on Russia

Trump has drawn criticism for repeatedly praising Russian President Vladimir Putin’s leadership and advocating a closer working relationship with Russia despite its record of human rights abuses and recent military incursions in Ukraine and Syria. In October, the U.S. bluntly accused Russia of hacking American political sites and email accounts in an effort to interfere with the presidential election. Russia called the accusations “nonsense.”

The Senate is expected to vote on the intelligence bill before the end of this year’s session.

The measure funds efforts to foil attacks and deny terrorists safe harbour in Iraq, Syria, North Africa and other places in the world. It bolsters counter-intelligence and addresses threats from adversaries in cyberspace, space and at sea.

The House bill also updates whistleblowing procedures in the intelligence community. And it requires a declassification review of intelligence reports on detainees transferred out of the military prison at Guantanamo Bay by both Presidents Barack Obama and George W. Bush.

Separately, Democratic senators on the Senate intelligence committee have written Obama a letter, seeking the declassification of information about Russian meddling in the recent U.S. election. “We believe there is additional information concerning the Russian government and the U.S. election that should be declassified and released to the public,” they wrote.

The letter was signed by Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore.; Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va.; Sen. Barbara Mikulski, D-Md.; Martin Heinrich, D-N.M.; Mazie Hirono, D-Hawaii; and ex-officio committee member, Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I.

Deb Riechmann, The Associated Press

by Canadian Press

House OKs intelligence bill that sets up new panel on Russia

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