Senate Russia Report Vol. 1: Russian Efforts Against Election Infrastructure

This is a reading of the first volume from the five-volume Report of the Select Committee on Intelligence United States Senate on Russian Active Measures Campaigns and Interference in the 2016 U.S. Election. This document focuses specifically on Russian efforts to attack our election infrastructure. It explains security concerns with various U.S. voting machines, the ability for DHS to provide support to the states, and scenarios for potential disruption to our elections.

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I. INTRODUCTION (2:28)

II. FINDINGS (3:13)

III. THE ARC OF RUSSIAN ACTIVITIES (7:52)

IV. ELEMENTS OF RUSSIAN ACTIVITIES (14:17)

A. Targeting Activity (14:21)

B. Russian Access to Election Infrastructure (31:26)

1. Russian Access to Election Infrastructure: Illinois (32:16)

2. Russian Access to Election Infrastructure: State 2 (35:46)

C. Russian Efforts to Research U.S. Voting Systems, Processes, and Other Elements of Voting Infrastructure (40:32)

D. Russian Activity Directed at Voting Machine Companies (40:50)

E. Russian Efforts to Observe Polling Places (41:23)

F. [Redacted] (42:13)

G. Russian Activity Possibly Related to a Misinformation Campaign on Voter [Redacted] (42:19)

H. Two Unexplained Events (43:10)

1. Cyber Activity in State 22 (43:13)

2. Cyber Activity in State 4 (43:20)

V. RUSSIAN INTENTIONS (45:54)

Chaos on Election Day: Three Scenarios (49:25)

VI. NO EVIDENCE OF CHANGED VOTES OR MANIPULATED VOTE TALLIES (50:54)

VII. SECURITY OF VOTING MACHINES (56:23)

Direct-Recording Electronic (DRE) Voting Machine Vulnerabilities (1:00:45)

Voluntary Voting System Guidelines (1:06:32)

VIII. THE ROLE OF DHS AND INTERACTIONS WITH THE STATES (1:09:37)

A. DHS's Evolution (1:10:17)

Critical Infrastructure Designation (1:15:21)

B. The View From the States (1:18:17)

C. Taking Advantage of DHS Resources (1:25:53)

IX. RECOMMENDATIONS (1:30:30)

MINORITY VIEWS OF SENATOR WYDEN (1:48:19)

ADDITIONAL VIEWS OF SENATORS HARRIS, BENNET, AND HEINRICH (2:02:54)

Presented by Timberlane Media

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Music by Lee Rosevere

Government Unfiltered readings available on Audible:

• The Mueller Report: Report On The Investigation Into Russian Interference In The 2016 Presidential Election
• Review of Four FISA Applications and Other Aspects of the FBI’s Crossfire Hurricane Investigation: Executive Summary
• Diplomacy in Crisis: The Trump Administration's Decimation of the State Department
• The Trump Middle East Marshall Plan: 2019 Congressional Oversight Reports
• Turkey’s October 2019 Incursion Into Syria: Background, U.S. Relations and Sanctions In Brief

An audiobook I narrated following the release of the Mueller Report:

Mental Model Mastery: How to Think Clear, Smarter and Faster. The Art of taking big decisions and Smart Bets