As soon as Mitt Romney, former presidential candidate and Trump critic, announced his interest in running for the Utah U.S. senate seat of the retiring Orrin Hatch, Russian tweets with the hashtag #neverromney burgeoned. It is apparent that Russia will continue to support Trump during the midterm elections. (NextGov, January 4, 2018, by Max De Haldevang of Quartz)
Although the Trump administration has not shown much concern about Russian influence in U.S. elections, the Democrats are investigating the issue. The Democratic Staff of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee published a report January 10 that documents widespread Russian tactics in Europe and highlights the importance of blocking future forays into U.S. elections. The report recommends steps that the Trump administration could take to protect our elections. (USA TODAY, January 10, 2018, by Oren Dorell)
The report says Trump should form an inter-agency task force to direct U.S. response to Russian interference and develop a strategy for dealing with the threats. It also recommended that Facebook and Twitter be held accountable for its role in distributing Russian attacks and fake news. (CNN, January 10, 2018, by Nicole Gaouette)