Cyber–Securing the Vote: Ensuring the Integrity of the U.S
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CYBER–SECURING THE VOTE: ENSURING THE INTEGRITY OF THE U.S. ELECTION SYSTEM HEARING BEFORE THE COMMITTEE ON OVERSIGHT AND GOVERNMENT REFORM HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES ONE HUNDRED FIFTEENTH CONGRESS SECOND SESSION JULY 24, 2018 Serial No. 115–111 Printed for the use of the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform ( Available via the World Wide Web: http://www.govinfo.gov http://oversight.house.gov U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE 33–089 PDF WASHINGTON : 2018 VerDate Nov 24 2008 10:30 Dec 07, 2018 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 5011 Sfmt 5011 H:\33089.TXT APRIL KING-6430 with DISTILLER COMMITTEE ON OVERSIGHT AND GOVERNMENT REFORM Trey Gowdy, South Carolina, Chairman John J. Duncan, Jr., Tennessee Elijah E. Cummings, Maryland, Ranking Darrell E. Issa, California Minority Member Jim Jordan, Ohio Carolyn B. Maloney, New York Mark Sanford, South Carolina Eleanor Holmes Norton, District of Columbia Justin Amash, Michigan Wm. Lacy Clay, Missouri Paul A. Gosar, Arizona Stephen F. Lynch, Massachusetts Scott DesJarlais, Tennessee Jim Cooper, Tennessee Virginia Foxx, North Carolina Gerald E. Connolly, Virginia Thomas Massie, Kentucky Robin L. Kelly, Illinois Mark Meadows, North Carolina Brenda L. Lawrence, Michigan Ron DeSantis, Florida Bonnie Watson Coleman, New Jersey Dennis A. Ross, Florida Raja Krishnamoorthi, Illinois Mark Walker, North Carolina Jamie Raskin, Maryland Rod Blum, Iowa Jimmy Gomez, Maryland Jody B. Hice, Georgia Peter Welch, Vermont Steve Russell, Oklahoma Matt Cartwright, Pennsylvania Glenn Grothman, Wisconsin Mark DeSaulnier, California Will Hurd, Texas Stacey E. Plaskett, Virgin Islands Gary J. Palmer, Alabama John P. Sarbanes, Maryland James Comer, Kentucky Paul Mitchell, Michigan Greg Gianforte, Montana Michael Cloud, Texas SHERIA CLARKE, Staff Director WILLIAM MCKENNA, General Counsel TROY STOCK, Subcommittee Staff Director KILEY BIDELMAN, Clerk DAVID RAPALLO, Minority Staff Director (II) VerDate Nov 24 2008 10:30 Dec 07, 2018 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 5904 Sfmt 5904 H:\33089.TXT APRIL KING-6430 with DISTILLER C O N T E N T S Page Hearing held on July 24, 2018 ............................................................................... 1 WITNESSES The Honorable Christopher Krebs, Under Secretary, National Protection and Programs Directorate, U.S. Department of Homeland Security Oral Statement ................................................................................................. 6 Written Statement ............................................................................................ 9 The Honorable Thomas Hicks, Commissioner, U.S. Election Assistance Com- mission Oral Statement ................................................................................................. 14 Written Statement ............................................................................................ 17 The Honorable Maggie Toulouse Oliver, Secretary of State, New Mexico Oral Statement ................................................................................................. 22 Written Statement ............................................................................................ 24 The Honorable Ricky Hatch, County Auditor, Weber County, Utah Oral Statement ................................................................................................. 29 Written Statement ............................................................................................ 31 APPENDIX Motion to Issue Subpoena to Dan Coats, offered by Mr. Connolly ...................... 88 Mr. Meadows Motion to Table the Connolly Motion Vote Sheet ......................... 90 Letter for the Record from 21 State Attorneys General, submitted by Ranking Member Cummings .............................................................................................. 91 Four Letters for the Record, submitted by Mr. Clay ............................................ 96 Two Letters for the Record, submitted by Ms. Lawrence .................................... 105 Report from Capital Research Center, submitted by Mr. Palmer ....................... 116 Questions for the Record for Mr. Krebs, submitted by Ranking Member Cummings ............................................................................................................. 132 (III) VerDate Nov 24 2008 10:30 Dec 07, 2018 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 5904 Sfmt 5904 H:\33089.TXT APRIL KING-6430 with DISTILLER VerDate Nov 24 2008 10:30 Dec 07, 2018 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 5904 Sfmt 5904 H:\33089.TXT APRIL KING-6430 with DISTILLER CYBER–SECURING THE VOTE: ENSURING THE INTEGRITY OF THE U.S. ELECTION SYSTEM Tuesday, July 24, 2018 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, COMMITTEE ON OVERSIGHT AND GOVERNMENT REFORM, Washington, D.C. The committee met, pursuant to call, at 10:01 a.m., in Room 2154, Rayburn House Office Building, Hon. Trey Gowdy [chairman of the committee] presiding. Present: Representatives Gowdy, Jordan, Sanford, Amash, Gosar, Foxx, Massie, Meadows, DeSantis, Ross, Walker, Blum, Hice, Grothman, Hurd, Palmer, Comer, Mitchell, Gianforte, Cloud, Cummings, Maloney, Norton, Clay, Lynch, Connolly, Lawrence, Watson Coleman, Krishnamoorthi, Raskin, Gomez, Welch, DeSaulnier, Plaskett, and Sarbanes. Chairman GOWDY. Good morning. The Committee on Oversight and Government Reform will come to order. Without objection, the presiding member is authorized is declare a recess at any time. I recognize myself for an opening statement, and then the gen- tleman from Maryland, and then I’ll recognize each of today’s wit- nesses. The right to vote is fundamental in a functioning democracy. In fact, the ability to pick our own leaders defines democracy. It’s the essence of self-governing. Everything we do in Congress from any legislative body, every bill passed, every hearing conducted, every witness summoned, every document accessed, all of it derives its power and legitimacy from an election. So the legitimacy of what we do is inextricably intertwined with the legitimacy of the under- lying election. The power to vote is likewise contingent on that vote being counted, no more or no less than anyone else’s. And the legitimacy to govern, therefore, flows from the reliability of the underlying election process. Further adding to the uniqueness of this idea called ‘‘America’’ is the duality that elections are principally governed by and con- ducted by State and local officials and sometimes volunteers, even though many elections have decidedly national implications. The stakes are national; the threats are sophisticated and inter- national. The process is State- and local-driven. But the States can and do ask for assistance, particularly given the nature of the at- tacks we now seem so face. Today’s hearing is focused generally on election security, on ac- cepting and advancing our individual and collective belief that the (1) VerDate Nov 24 2008 10:30 Dec 07, 2018 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 H:\33089.TXT APRIL KING-6430 with DISTILLER 2 legitimacy of our work and the work of others in elective office is in direct proportion to the reliability of our own elections. Today’s hearing is broader than what happened in 2016, but what happened in 2016 must be addressed because the malefactors will attack us again. I personally am convinced beyond any evidentiary burden that Russia interfered with the 2016 election. I’m convinced Russia at- tempted to undermine the fundamentals of our democracy, impugn the reliability of the 2016 election, and sow the seeds of discord among Americans. Our intelligence community, both past and present, concluded this, as did the House Intelligence Committee report, as I am quite certain will the Senate Intelligence Committee report, and, equally importantly, as did our fellow Americans who served on the two grand juries which returned true bills. Just 10 days ago, the current Deputy Attorney General an- nounced Russians engaged in cyber operations to interfere in the 2016 Presidential election. They hacked into computer networks and installed malicious software that allowed them to spy on users, capture keystrokes, take screenshots, and exfiltrate and remove data from these computers. They also discussed the timing of the release in an attempt to enhance the impact on the election. This was not just his opinion; it was the consensus of average, everyday Americans who were called into service on what we call a grand jury. The Department of Justice said in both indictments, ‘‘There is no allegation that this inference changed the vote count or affected any election result,’’ but that was likely not for a lack of trying. What better way to undermine confidence in every derivative func- tion of government than to cast doubt on the election results as a whole? Last week, many of us were in a SCIF, meeting with Inspector General Michael Horowitz. There were no cameras. It was just us and our colleagues from Judiciary. And my suspicion is all of us who were there left with a renewed understanding of what hap- pened both in 2016 and even before that. We left even more fully cognizant that every election henceforth will be subject to attack, and, therefore, we must be prepared, not as partisans, but as fellow citizens. Russia attacked many institutions in our country. Some were successfully attacked, like the DNC and the DCCC, but many oth- ers were targeted. And I’m sure my colleagues were struck, as I was last week again and am struck every time I have access to rel- evant information, by the reality that all of us are actually