Senator Bob Corker held a press conference, in Soddy-Daisy, Tennessee, after touring the areas affected by a recent string of wildfires in Southeast Tennessee on November 21, 2016. NASHVILLE – Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Corker, R-Tenn., says that regardless of whether Russia interfered in this year’s U.S. elections to benefit President-elect Donald Trump, Russian President Vladimir Putin has already won a “victory” by sowing confusion and discord among Americans.
Corker also said in his Wednesday interview on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” that his committee intends to “get to the bottom” of a CIA assessment saying the interference was intended to help Trump.
“We’re going to find out,” said Corker, who was at one time on Trump’s short list for secretary of state. “You have the office of the Director of National Intelligence that says no [on Russia seeking to help Trump]. You’ve got the CIA that says yes. You’ve got the FBI that has a different take.”
Other U.S. intelligence agencies and the FBI have stopped short of endorsing the CIA’s assessment. But they do agree Russia interfered by hacking targets, including the Democratic National Committee and Democrat Hillary Clinton’s campaign chairman John Podesta, which were hit when unflattering details were released by Wikileaks.
Corker said he realizes that’s “frustrating to people,” noting “these entities all operate in a different manner” in terms of how they draw conclusions. “But look, we’re going to get to the bottom of it.”