WASHINGTON, D.C. – During a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing today, U.S. Senator Angus King (I-Maine) questioned foreign policy experts on the best practices to defend the United States against Russian meddling in our elections. The hearing, which focused on Russia’s active measures and information operations campaigns in Europe, provided an overview of Russia’s attempts to exert influence and interfere in other countries’ elections, particularly in Eastern Europe. Senator King asked the panel of experts to submit their top five proposals to defend against foreign interference in U.S. elections and underscored the important role of public engagement to recognize disinformation.

“Some members of this committee were in Eastern Europe over a year ago, in the Spring of 2016, we were in Ukraine and Poland,” Senator King said. “[…] They said the best defense is if the people know what’s happening and they can say, ‘Oh it’s just the Russians,’ and that you’ve characterized as societal awareness.”

Witnesses before the Intelligence Committee today were Ambassador Nicholas Burns of the Harvard Kennedy School of Government, Director of NATO Strategic Communication Center of Excellence Janis Sarts, Ambassador Vesko Garcevic of Boston University’s Frederick Pardee School of Global Studies, and Senior Brookings Fellow Dr. Constanze Stelzenmueller.

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