New nonpartisan group aims to educate on Russian interference threat

A new nonpartisan group launched on Tuesday aims to inform Americans about the “grave” national security threat posed by Russia’s ongoing interference in U.S. affairs.

The Committee to Investigate Russia aims to “help Americans recognize and understand the gravity of Russia’s continuing attacks on our democracy” by providing “a comprehensive and easy-to-understand website, extensive social media campaign, daily newsletter, expert analysis, and breaking news updates,” according to a press release.

The U.S. intelligence committee believes Moscow hacked Democratic groups leading up to last year’s presidential election, with the intention of increasing the likelihood of President Trump reaching the White House.

{mosads}The new campaign plans to pull together “hundreds of sources to connect the dots” of the Kremlin’s meddling efforts so that users can access the widespread data in one central online site: InvestigateRussia.org.

The committee will also release a video in which Academy Award winning-actor Morgan Freeman talks about “Russia’s continuing attacks on our democracy.”

The group hopes to collect enough information to make it clear to the federal government that Russia is a “critical national security issue” that it must act on and protect the nation from further interference.

The committee’s advisory board, which will oversee the progress of the nonprofit organization, includes top influencers from both sides of the aisle including former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, Council on Foreign Relations senior fellow Max Boot, American Enterprise Institute resident scholar Norman Ornstein and others.

“This isn’t about politics, which is why this project is backed by both conservatives and liberals and people with such deep national security expertise,” said director and Democratic activist Rob Reiner, who also sits on the advisory board.

“It’s about a foreign invasion. It’s important that every American, regardless of party, can stay informed about and understand this critical threat.”

Despite Russia’s long history of subversive tactics, the press release says the Kremlin’s recent covert campaigns are making its ill-intentioned efforts harder to detect.

“During the Cold War, the threat from the Soviets was clear. It’s a lot harder to recognize today’s cyber attacks and espionage from Russia, but the goal is the same — to undermine our country,” the press release continued.

“This isn’t about politics. This is about ensuring the Russians cannot wage war on us without Americans knowing about it and making sure our elected leaders do something about it.”

Russia’s meddling in last year’s election is the subject of multiple congressional probes, as well as a special counsel appointed by the Justice Department.

— Updated: 9:03 a.m.