Arizona Republican Rep. Trent Franks isn’t sure if Russia was behind the email hacks that roiled the election. But if they were, he says, the release of information could be considered a public service.
“I’m all for doing what’s necessary to protect the electorate but there’s no suggestion that Russia hacked into our voting systems or anything like that,” Franks said on MSNBC Thursday. “But the bottom line is if they succeeded, if Russia succeeded in giving the American people information that was accurate, then they merely did what the media should have done,” he added.
Franks’ comments came just before the Obama Administration announced sanctions against Russian officials over allegations that they hacked Democratic officials to affect the 2016 election.
President-elect Donald Trump — who has still not said he believes Russia was behind the hacks which resulted in Democratic officials’ emails being released — said Americans should stop dwelling on how the information was released.
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