The Russian Threat Is Real: Intel Vice Chair Warns He's Not Sure Elections Will Be 'Fully Secure in 2020'

CAPITOL HILL - With the 2020 presidential campaign well underway, Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA), vice chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, is sounding the alarm that our election security still faces serious threats. Warner's biggest concern is that we haven't learned from 2016 when Russia interfered in the US election, and he worries about the integrity of our system going into 2020.
 
"What's most unsettling is that Russia was fairly effective in 2016 and they didn't just do it in our elections, they did it in the Brexit vote, they did it in the French presidential elections," Warner told CBN News. "They want to mostly pit one American against each other, they want to undermine our faith in democracy – and they were fairly effective at that." 

Warner believes they'll use a new tool in 2020 known as "deep fake" technology that could be horribly disruptive to our election process. 

"Someone might look like you and sound like you, but it's not you because you can computer generate a voice or put the image of your face on another body," he explained.
 
He says every campaign needs to be extra cautious going into 2020.
 
"I have my personal phone, iPad, screened on a regular basis," says Warner. "We can't just put this under the rug – we need Americans to know we need to be better protected." 
 
While he acknowledges we've taken some steps to address the issue since 2016, it's not enough.
 
"While we improved in 2018, I think we know that Russia didn't really throw all their resources at 2018," warns Warner. "They're going to reserve that for the presidential election."
 
On Capitol Hill, Warner's working to tackle the issue three ways.
 
"There ought to be an obligation that if a foreign government tries to intervene in a presidential election, whoever they try to intervene on behalf of, there ought to be an obligation not to say thank you but tell the FBI," an idea Warner says an overwhelming majority of Americans support.
 
Second, Warner believes each voting machine should have a paper ballot backup in case interference is detected. And he's also calling for basic rules forcing Facebook, Twitter, and Google to crack down on fake bots. 
 
"We've seen Russians and others come try to impersonate being Americans," says Warner. "They do it on both ends of the political spectrum, advocate for the most extreme positions on the left and the right." 
 
"You wonder why that story pops up on your newsfeed? Well it pops up because it may not be Americans pushing that story," he continued.
 
Warner believes if these bills make it to the Senate floor, they'll be broadly supported.

"Just because we made improvements in 2018, unless we can put some of this in the law to make sure on a going forward basis that we'll take these minimum protections I'm not sure I can look Americans straight in the eye and say that we'll be fully secure in 2020," says Warner.
 
And he believes this should not be a partisan issue.

"I'm not here to try and re-litigate 2016," claims Warner. "I'm here to try and make sure in 2020 and beyond we do all we can as responsible officials to make sure that our election system is secure, that it's honest, that we're not being manipulated by any foreign entity in terms of who we choose for our leaders."
 
But Warner has concerns about the White House's support.
 
"I do worry that at times the White House has been kind of reluctant to acknowledge this is a problem, I do get concerned when President Trump interacts with President Putin of Russia and seems to kind of laugh off this issue," he says.

"If you look at the president's own appointees, Christopher Wray, the FBI Director, has said Russians will be back, Dan Coats, the Director of National Intelligence until very recently has said the Russians will be back," continued Warner. "I just wish President Trump would listen to his own FBI Director, CIA Director, Director of National Intelligence."  
 
Warner hopes that as his colleagues go back to their districts for August recess, they'll hear from their constituents about this issue.

"One thing I've heard from Virginians is it doesn't matter who they support, whether they're for the president or against the president, they think we need to do everything we can to protect our election security," says Warner.