Himes and Warner Say Classified Report Shows Russia Opposes Pro-Ukraine Candidates, Prepare for Trump to Claim Foreign Meddling

On Wednesday (the date of their briefing for reporters), Rep. Jim Himes, D-Conn., and Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., the top Democrats on the House and Senate intelligence committees, told reporters they’d seen a recent classified intelligence report on foreign election meddling showing Russia opposes candidates of either party who have backed Ukraine. Himes drew a line between influence and interference: “Nothing out there suggests that there is either the capability or the intent to do interference, whereas there is a pretty robust influence environment.” He also said “we have never seen an operation to actually interfere and, as of now, we are not seeing either the capability or the intent to interfere.” Of the influence side, he said, “It’s a carnival out there.” Warner: “The state of play, I would argue, is Russia, similar to prior occasions, is going after Democrats, usually with misinformation.”

The same briefing was mostly about Trump. Himes and Warner say they are operating under the presumption that President Trump and his allies will allege fraud related to this year’s midterms in order to justify election interference; Himes: “We’re making the assumption that the president is not going to accept the results of what looks to be a very challenging election for him and his party.” Warner said one way the president could do that is by claiming foreign interference in the voting process. They told Director of National Intelligence Jay Clayton and other intelligence leaders they must be immediately reachable by phone on and after Election Day in case Trump alleges foreign interference, or, Himes said, “decides to use allegations of foreign interference as an excuse to seize ballot boxes, question the validity of the election.” They allege ODNI has not delivered the statutorily required pre-election reports at 120 days, 60 days and 30 days before the election (“We have not received a bunch of things that we have asked for,” Himes said), and said they had received one classified report on Tuesday from the DNI’s office, a “grabbag” of intelligence on meddling efforts. Warner said more than 75 groups are still meeting on a regular basis, “fully lawyered up.” The White House responded through spokeswoman Lauren Bis: “President Trump has done more than any other President to ensure we have free and fair elections.” The ODNI office did not immediately reply to NPR.

Himes and Warner are members of the Gang of Eight, senior lawmakers who oversee the nation’s spy agencies and receive confidential briefings. Himes described his response if the president announced a foreign operation at noon on Election Day: “I’m on TV saying ‘I’m Gang of Eight and I have received no such briefing, no such information, and I have no reason to believe that this is accurate.’” Related: 2026-10-20–storm-1516-deepfake-videos-on-x-fabricate-abuse-claim-against-texas-senate-candidate-talarico; Clayton’s confirmation, 2026-07-28–clayton-confirmed-dni-party-line-vote.