John McCain schedules Senate hearings on Russian hacking for next week

| 1:03 pm EST December 30, 2016
Dear Palmer Report readers, we all understand the difficult era we're heading into. Major media outlets are caving to Trump already. Even the internet itself and publishing platforms may be at risk. But Palmer Report is nonetheless going to lead the fight. We're funding our 2025 operating expenses now, so we can keep publishing no matter what happens. I'm asking you to contribute if you can, because the stakes are just so high. You can donate here.

Yesterday, President Barack Obama launched sweeping punitive measures against Vladimir Putin’s Russia in retaliation for its successful attempt at hacking the United States presidential election. One of the first voices to speak up in support of Obama’s measures was his longtime political rival, Republican Senator John McCain, who vowed to take things even further in the next session. Now it turns out McCain isn’t even waiting until the next session, and is instead moving forward with near-immediate hearings.

Senator McCain has scheduled a Senate hearing on January 5th, just six days from now, and a full two weeks before inauguration day. MSN News is reporting that the hearings are focused on “foreign cyber threats to the United States.” But after McCain’s official statement yesterday, in which he singled out Russia for “cyberattacks on the 2016 election,” it’s clear that the Senator is targeting Russian hackers in particular.

The efforts of President Obama, Senator McCain, and other Democrats and Republicans in high office to cripple Vladimir Putin and Russia are coming even as “president-elect” Donald Trump is now openly siding with Putin on the matter, and praising Putin’s intelligence. It’s not clear if Trump will have any allies in either party when it comes to Russia.