Mike Rounds: ‘Troubling’ the W.H. Has Not Named a Lead Agency to Combat Russian Meddling

RUSH EXCERPT:

BLITZER: "Let’s discuss that and more. Joining us from Capitol Hill, senator Mike Rounds. He’s a member of the armed committee. Is that trouble to you that there hasn’t been a lead agency task dealing with this very, very real Russian threat?"
ROUNDS: "It is troubling to us. We have recognized the challenge. We started several years ago with the national defense authorization act trying to lay out a directive to define an active war in cyberspace and then to define other activities that might lead to a war in cyberspace. We understand it’s not an easy thing to do, but we think that to have a cohesive policy and one that lays out not just our defensive plans but our offensive capabilities would be very helpful. We’ve received word from the science board for the department of defense that for the next ten years, our defensive capabilities will not be capable of stopping offensive capabilities of our near pure competitors. And the only way we’re going to get results is going to be to have an offensive capability that makes them think twice about interfering. Not in offense activities or getting into a campaign process, but also the election process as well."