FBI, NSA: Russia Will Be Back Next Election

Russian interference in the U.S. electoral process will not end with the 2016 presidential election, FBI Director James Comey said Monday during his public hearing before the House Intelligence Committee. "They'll be back," he said. "They'll be back in 2020. They may be back in 2018. One of the lessons they may draw from this is that they were successful because they introduced chaos and division and discord and sowed doubt about the nature of this amazing country of ours and our democratic process." Comey said Russia's mission this time around was to, as usual, "undermine the credibility of our entire democracy," but both he and NSA Director Adm. Michael Rogers said the approach was different. Rogers said, "A big difference to me in the past was while there was cyber activity, you never saw—in previous elections—information being published in such a massive scale that had been physically removed both from private individuals as well as organizations associated with the democratic process, both inside the government and outside the government." Comey said that the interference was also "louder" than it had been before. "It might be that they wanted us to help them by telling people what they are doing. They're counting on us to amplify it" by reporting on their actions. "We have to assume they're coming back," Rogers said. "They have come to the conclusion they've generated a positive outcome for them."