VIDEO: Heinrich Presses National Intelligence Director On Russia Sanctions, Cyber Deterrence Strategy

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) questioned Director of National Intelligence Daniel Coats during a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on Worldwide Threats. 

VIDEO: Heinrich Presses National Intelligence Director On Russia Sanctions, Cyber Deterrence

During the hearing, Senator Heinrich pressed DNI Coats on whether the Intelligence Community had been instructed to provide analysis to support the Treasury Department’s decision not to impose sanctions on Russia despite Congress voting nearly unanimously to pass a law that required the president to sanction individuals with financial ties to Russia’s defense and intelligence sectors.

Senator Heinrich also expressed concern with the lack of a national cyber deterrence strategy to prevent future Russian attempts to interfere in U.S. elections. Senator Heinrich raised doubt with the Trump Administration’s “whole of government approach,” saying that he feared that it has become a catch-all excuse for “it's someone else's job.” DNI Coats agreed that the Administration’s response to Russian activities has not changed Russia’s behavior and that the United States must impose costs on Vladimir Putin in order for Russia to change its behavior. 

A list of witnesses and testimony, and the archived webcast of today's hearing will be available here.