The Atlantic

Reporting Foreign Meddling in Elections Shouldn’t Be Optional

A member of the House Intelligence Committee unveils a bill that would obligate campaigns to tell the FBI when foreign powers offer dirt on their opponents.
Source: Aaron Bernstein / Reuters

Over the past year, I’ve spent hours listening to witnesses talk about the events of the 2016 campaign. The House Intelligence Committee, on which I sit, has been investigating Russian interference in the election. Multiple members of Donald Trump’s campaign, businesses, and family, I’ve learned, were contacted by individuals linked to the Russian government—but none of them, so far as we know, reported these contacts to law-enforcement agencies.

For years, America has helped protect against terrorist attacks by telling Americans, “If you see something, say

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