What should voters know and when should they know it?

By Tom Coleman
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
September 3, 2020

Almost 50 years ago, in what would become the turning point in the Watergate investigation, Tennessee Republican Sen. Howard Baker uttered the phrase, “What did the president know, and when did he know it?” While the challenge today of having a free and fair election is far different from the matter faced by Baker, any foreign interference in our elections packs an equally powerful punch to our democracy. This leads Americans to ponder: What should the voters know and when should they know it?

Months before the 2016 presidential election, John O. Brennan, then the CIA director, briefed the bipartisan congressional leadership on Russia’s involvement in the campaign. According to media reports, Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell objected to informing the public of this unprecedented foreign effort to influence the outcome of an election. As a result, the information was never disclosed to the public before they voted.

Eventually, all of this was officially confirmed years later in the Mueller report as well as in the findings of the recently released bipartisan Senate Intelligence Committee report. Both investigations found that multiple campaign officials for Donald Trump — including campaign chairman Paul Manafort — were willing recipients of the Russian help, met with Russian intelligence officers and attempted to cover it up. Most of the Trump campaign officials involved in this traitorous activity have been convicted of committing a variety of felonies.

Now comes John Ratcliffe, the newly Trump-installed director of the Office of National Intelligence, announcing he will be limiting congressional briefings on foreign interference in the election to only written documents. This means our representatives in Congress will not be able to ask questions to seek a more complete picture of what is happening. It’s not unlike having a trial without calling witnesses.

This congressional gag order on asking questions of the briefers seems unnecessary since intelligence agencies have recently issued public statements that Russia, China and Iran are already attempting to influence this year’s election through a variety of methods and strategies. One might reasonably conclude Ratcliffe is pulling the questions at the behest of Trump, who still fumes about media reports on Russia’s 2016 interference.

Equally important to the “what and when” voters should know is “who” should tell them. Who are the individuals in the federal, state or local government who should decide what information relevant to foreign involvement the public has a right to know about before voting? The same goes for the timing of its release.

This year, because of their concerns of exposure to the coronavirus, millions of American voters will soon begin casting their ballots through in-person early voting as well as absentee voting by mail. Time is of the essence. Voters must receive the answers to these questions immediately.

Hopefully, this year we’ll not be at the mercy of McConnell to decide what and when the public has a right to know or to a Trump loyalist who wants to avoid upsetting the boss. Ratcliffe should immediately withdraw his gag order on questions, and the public should be fully informed of the influence and direction of foreign interests. This can be done without compromising sources and methods.

In the meantime, Facebook, on a tip from the FBI, has identified renewed efforts by the Russian intelligence agency to use the Facebook platform to distribute misinformation in order to influence the outcome of this year’s election. Facebook publicly announced the activity and took it down. It’s more than the director of the Office of National Intelligence has done for Congress.

Leaving voters with inadequate information about foreign interference in the election they are voting in is not only a disservice to the public, it’s a serious threat to our democracy.

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Tom Coleman is a former Republican member of Congress from Missouri (1976-1993) and has served as an adjunct professor at the Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service and at American University. He is an adviser to Protect Democracy.

09.03.20
Tom Coleman: What should the voters know about meddling and when should they know it, St. Louis Post-Dispatch

Photo Caption: Rep. John Ratcliffe, R-Texas, poses questions in 2019 during the House impeachment inquiry hearings in Washington. The Trump administration, with Ratcliffe now serving as national intelligence director, has ended all election security briefings to Congress just weeks before Americans cast their ballots for president.
Credit: Doug Mills/The New York Times via AP, Pool