Electoral College Vote Update: Electors Demand Classified Intelligence Briefing On Russia Hack

A group of electors are calling for the Electoral College to receive a classified intelligence briefing on the Russian government’s involvement in the 2016 presidential election, as well as any information on foreign cyber attacks that could have influenced the Election Day’s final results.

The demands were sent in an open letter signed by nine Democratic electors and one Republican to James Clapper, the director of national intelligence, and asks for a detailed review of any ongoing investigations into President-elect Donald Trump’s relationship with the Kremlin within the U.S. intelligence community be delivered to the Electoral College before it casts its official vote for the next president Dec. 19.

"The Electors require to know from the intelligence community whether there are ongoing investigations into ties between Donald Trump, his campaign or associates, and Russian government interference in the election, the scope of those investigations, how far those investigations may have reached, and who was involved in those investigations," the letter read, The Hill reported Monday. "We further require a briefing on all investigative findings, as these matters directly impact the core factors in our deliberations of whether Mr. Trump is fit to serve as President of the United States."

A handful of electors have already publicly withdrawn their support for the president-elect, vowing to support any other formidable GOP candidate for the White House, should they present themselves as a contender to Trump ahead of next week’s vote. Monday’s open letter also followed a rare bipartisan statement from Sen. John McCain, Sen. Lindsey Graham, Sen. Chuck Schumer and Sen. Jack Reed on cyber threats to the integrity of the nation’s election process.

"This cannot become a partisan issue," the statement, published Monday across social media, read. "The stakes are too high for our country. We are committed to working in this bipartisan manner, and we will seek to unify our colleagues around the goal of investigating and stopping the grave threats that cyberattacks conducted by foreign governments pose to our national security."

Trump received well over the 270-vote threshold in the Electoral College to assume victory on Election Day, picking up 306 votes to former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's 232.