After the New York Times and Observer of London published articles indicating a wild abuse of private Facebook information by Cambridge Analytica, Senate Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) reminded Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-IA) that her requests for information from Cambridge Analytica and some of the individuals named in these media reports, including Brad Parscale, Dan Scavino, and Steve Bannon, have been ignored and the Committee has taken no action on them.
“As you know, last year I sent a number of letters seeking information from Cambridge Analytica and some of the individuals named in these media reports, including Brad Parscale, Dan Scavino, and Steve Bannon. These requests have been ignored, and the Committee has taken no additional action,” Feinstein wrote.
The Democratic Senator pointedly asked “why steps were not taken sooner to bring it to an end, and what can be done to protect their privacy and the integrity of our elections going forward.”
Moments before Feinstein’s letter, Channel 4 busted Trump’s election consultants, top executives of Cambridge Analytica, on video saying they use bribes and sex workers to entrap politicians.
To get more stories like this, subscribe to our newsletter The Daily.
Feinstein has been requesting this information for since last year.
The full letter as sent to PoliticusUSA:
March 18, 2018
Honorable Charles Grassley
Chairman
Committee on the Judiciary
United States Senate
Washington, D.C. 20510
Dear Chairman Grassley:
The New York Times and the Observer of London reported allegations from a whistleblower that voter-profiling firm Cambridge Analytica exploited information from more than fifty million Facebook users without their knowledge or permission. Cambridge Analytica then used that information to target voters and shape public opinion on behalf of President Trump’s campaign, raising additional questions about the role of the company and its associates in influencing the 2016 election.
These reports detail allegations of an egregious breach of privacy and trust. The private information of more than 50 million Americans is reported to have been taken from social media accounts, without notice or consent, to game the political system. In addition, these reports outline serious allegations that foreign actors engaged with a U.S. campaign to create and implement a widespread influence operation that targeted American voters based on the personal information harvested from these accounts. Such activity implicates campaign finance laws and a broader conspiracy to defraud the United States, matters that fall squarely within this Committee’s oversight jurisdiction.
As you know, last year I sent a number of letters seeking information from Cambridge Analytica and some of the individuals named in these media reports, including Brad Parscale, Dan Scavino, and Steve Bannon. These requests have been ignored, and the Committee has taken no additional action.
These reports raise serious allegations, and the American people need to know how this happened, who knew about it, why steps were not taken sooner to bring it to an end, and what can be done to protect their privacy and the integrity of our elections going forward. I urge the Committee to get to the bottom of these questions by holding hearings on these matters, compelling the production of documents as well as the attendance of relevant witnesses. As a first step, I ask the Committee to follow up on pending requests and identify additional information and witnesses the Committee should hear from. I hope we can commence a bipartisan effort to investigate what actually happened.
Sincerely,
Dianne Feinstein
Ranking Member
Committee on the Judiciary
Listen to Sarah on the PoliticusUSA Pod on The Daily newsletter podcast here.
Sarah has been credentialed to cover President Barack Obama, then VP Joe Biden, 2016 Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, and exclusively interviewed Speaker Nancy Pelosi multiple times and exclusively covered her first home appearance after the first impeachment of then President Donald Trump.
Sarah is two-time Telly award winning video producer and a member of the Society of Professional Journalists.
Connect with Sarah on Post, Mastodon @PoliticusSarah@Journa.Host, & Twitter.
