Opinion Pieces

Note: This originally appeared in the Washington Examiner on March 5, 2018. 
Do you trust our federal government?

Most Americans don’t, at least according to the Pew Research Center, which reports that public trust in the government remains near the historic lows of 2007. This hasn’t always been true, though. Throughout our nation’s history, Americans have generally trusted government all the time or most of the time, according to historical research from the Pew Research Center.

But in 2017, only 18 percent of Americans today say they can trust the government in Washington to do what is right “just about always” (3 percent) or “most of the time” (15 percent), according to polling.

There are many factors that contribute to this erosion of trust, but it is not a statistic that should be taken lightly. It reminds me of a quote by President Abraham Lincoln: “America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves.”

Lincoln’s words offer a penetrating warning for our divided country today. They also sound eerily similar to what we see Russia doing right now, with its attempts to undermine Americans’ trust in our democratic government even further.

Would you really want to trust the Russian government?

The Kremlin Playbook, a report by the Center for Strategic and International Studies, says that Russia “seeks to corrode democracy from within by deepening political divides.”

The House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, where I serve, examined the Kremlin Playbook in an open congressional hearing this past May. Former CIA Director John Brennan, who led the agency from March 2013 to January 2017 under President Barack Obama, testified about Russian interference and the 2016 election.

Brennan described the Russian playbook as interfering with our elections, engaging with high-ranking American officials, and building domestic relationships. According to Brennan, the Russians use “traditional intelligence collection tradecraft, in terms of HUMINT, which is to identify individuals that you think are either very influential or rising stars and you will try to develop relationships with them, and the Russians frequently will do that through cutouts or through false flag operations. They won’t identify themselves as Russians or as members of the Russian government. They will try to develop that personal relationship. Over time, they will try to get individuals to do things on their behalf.”

When it came my turn to question Brennan, I asked him about the process for flagging a conversation or interaction of an American who may be subject to such targeting by the Russians. In order for Americans to trust the system, they must trust that there are counterintelligence standards in place that transcend political parties and are applied objectively.

Many Americans may remember the moment when President Barack Obama was overheard on a live mic saying to Russian President Dmitri Medvedev, “This is my last election. After my election, I have more flexibility.” Medvedev replied, “I understand. I will transmit this information to Vladimir [Putin]. I stand with you."

Was Medvedev meddling in our elections? It presented a disturbing image for many Americans. Should this type of interaction be questioned? It certainly concerns elections, an influential American, and Russian relationship building.

Brennan refused to include this incident in his conversation about Russian attempts to meddle, despite my questioning on standards and pre-2016 work. He stated, “That was a direct conversation between the heads of government and state between two countries. I’m not going to respond to you.”

But it wasn’t just that — it was a president in a campaign cycle, making deals with a foreign head of state that centered on the outcome of the election. This, while partisans mocked candidate Mitt Romney for asserting that Russia may be our biggest geopolitical foe.

As investigations are ongoing, let’s move ahead smartly. However, it’s one illustration of an overarching problem. For many Americans, the gamesmanship, half-hearted accountability, and a lack of answers from their government have eroded their ability to trust those who have been appointed or elected to serve them.

Instead of being answered, Americans' concerns are brushed off with the echoing of Brennan’s answer: “I’m not going to respond to you."