Russia Election Hack Update: Cory Gardner To File Bill Putting Pressure On Mitch McConnell To Create New Senate Cybersecurity Panel

Colorado Sen. Cory Gardner will introduce a bill calling for a special Senate committee on cybersecurity following the allegations of Russia hacking the U.S. 2016 election race in favor of President-elect Donald Trump, the Republican lawmaker told Politico Monday.

Gardner’s move follows a bipartisan push spearheaded by Republican Senators John McCain and Lindsey Graham with incoming Democratic leader Chuck Schumer and Sen. Jack Reed. The move is expected to mount more pressure on Majority Leader Mitch McConnell who has so far avoided creating a special committee, insisting that the Senate’s existing committees should handle the issue.

Gardner, a close ally of McConnell, had called for the creation of a special panel on cybersecurity earlier but had not filed a bill regarding the same. He said he hopes to introduce the legislation with bipartisan cosponsors next year. The bill, he said, will not focus solely on Moscow’s interference in the 2016 race.

“From North Korea’s hack of Sony Pictures to Iran’s attack on a New York dam, it’s evident that we are facing a growing cybersecurity challenge. The nature and complexity of recent cyber-attacks require a whole of government approach to cyberspace and the development of federal policy to mitigate the threat and protect everything from personal information to the security of our critical infrastructure,” Gardner said.

However, GOP support for the proposed bill is unclear since Republicans who stand in favor of the bill will be siding with the Democratic Senate leader and not their own.

Many Republicans aren’t ready to support Gardner’s bill, Politico reported. The Senate Intelligence, Foreign Relations and Armed Services committees are still independently looking into the allegations.

McConnell said in an interview Monday evening that a new committee to look into cybersecurity is unnecessary but vowed to get to the bottom of the issue.

“It’s a serious issue, but it doesn't require a select committee,” McConnell said. “We already have a committee set up to do this.”

McCain, however, disagreed. Speaking to CNN on Sunday, he argued that Russian President Vladimir Putin’s influence on U.S. politics needed a focused approach that existing committees could not attain.

“The responsibilities for cyber [are] spread over about four different committees in the Senate. And each doing their own thing, frankly, is not going to be the most efficient way of arriving at a conclusion,” he said.

A Kremlin spokesperson dismissed allegations of Russian interference in the U.S. after President Barack Obama vowed to take action against Moscow for the same.

“They need to either stop talking about this or finally present some sort of proof,” the spokesperson said.