--- title: Mitch McConnell 'Strongly' Condemns Russia 2016 Interference description: "The Russians are not our friends," McConnell said Monday. canonical: https://time.com/4597792/mitch-mcconnell-strongly-condemns-russian-interference-in-2016-election/ author: Maya Rhodan article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-12-12T15:35:36.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-19T07:45:15.731Z article:section: Politics og:title: Sen. Mitch McConnell: "The Russians are not our friends." og:description: "The Russians do not wish us well," McConnell said og:url: https://time.com/4597792/mitch-mcconnell-strongly-condemns-russian-interference-in-2016-election/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltedfc26ac944cbf57/6988b2978fd2eefd64355257/gettyimages-622164812.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3000 og:image:height: 1688 og:image:alt: Donald Trump Meets with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Sen. Mitch McConnell: "The Russians are not our friends." twitter:description: "The Russians do not wish us well," McConnell said twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltedfc26ac944cbf57/6988b2978fd2eefd64355257/gettyimages-622164812.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Mitch McConnell 'Strongly' Condemns Russian Interference in 2016 Election > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: August 2026. ## TIME D.C. Brief: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition D.C. Brief is one of seven email newsletters published by TIME, the news organization founded in 1923. Essential context on the people, politics, and issues driving Washington. D.C. Brief goes beyond the Washington headlines to explain the politics, personalities and power dynamics shaping what happens next. 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Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. by [Maya Rhodan](https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Dec 12, 2016 3:35 PM UTC  Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell makes a brief statement after meeting with U.S. President-elect Donald Trump at the U.S. Capitol two days after Trump won the 2016 Presidential Election in Washington, USA on November 10, 2016\. Anadolu Agency—Getty Images Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell makes a brief statement after meeting with U.S. President-elect Donald Trump at the U.S. Capitol two days after Trump won the 2016 Presidential Election in Washington, USA on November 10, 2016\. Anadolu Agency—Getty ImagesAnadolu Agency—Getty Images by [Maya Rhodan](https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Dec 12, 2016 3:35 PM UTC Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell spoke out Monday to “strongly condemn” any [Russian interference](http://time.com/magazine/us/4512760/october-10th-2016-vol-188-no-14-u-s/) in the 2016 presidential election. “Any foreign breach of our cyber security measures is disturbing and I strongly condemn any such efforts,” McConnell said Monday. During a press conference at the U.S. Capitol, McConnell read a statement to address lingering skepticism held by some lawmakers about Russian efforts to impact the outcome of the presidential election. McConnell said Monday that it “defies belief” that some in the Republican Party don’t want an investigation into Russian actions, adding that this should not be a partisan issue. “The Russians are not our friends,” McConnell said. “The Russians do not wish us well.” The Kentucky Senator said he stands with a bipartisan group of Senators including Republican Sens. John McCain and Lindsey Graham who called for a bipartisan investigation into Russian efforts. President-elect Donald Trump has repeatedly denied that there were any attempts by Russia to impact the outcome of the 2016 presidential election. In a [series of tweets on Monday](http://time.com/4597693/donald-trump-russia-election-hacking/?xid=tcoshare), Trump said if the tables were turned and he’d claimed Russia had interfered in an election he’d lost it would be called a “conspiracy theory.” > [](https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/808299841147248640) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4597792/mitch-mcconnell-strongly-condemns-russian-interference-in-2016-election/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4597792/mitch-mcconnell-strongly-condemns-russian-interference-in-2016-election/"},"headline":"Mitch McConnell 'Strongly' Condemns Russian Interference in 2016 Election","datePublished":"2016-12-12T15:35:36.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-19T07:45:15.731Z","description":"\"The Russians are not our friends,\" McConnell said Monday.","url":"https://time.com/4597792/mitch-mcconnell-strongly-condemns-russian-interference-in-2016-election/","keywords":["Donald Trump","republicans","2016 Election","Senate","White House","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltedfc26ac944cbf57/6988b2978fd2eefd64355257/gettyimages-622164812.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Maya Rhodan","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltedfc26ac944cbf57/6988b2978fd2eefd64355257/gettyimages-622164812.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Donald Trump Meets with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell","caption":"Donald Trump Meets with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell","creditText":"Anadolu Agency—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/donald-trump/","name":"Donald Trump"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4597792/mitch-mcconnell-strongly-condemns-russian-interference-in-2016-election/","name":"Mitch McConnell 'Strongly' Condemns Russian Interference in 2016 Election"}}]}] ```