Biden on Russia: Easy to say we should’ve said more

Former Vice President Joe Biden on Tuesday offered a detailed explanation of how the Obama administration handled evidence of Russian interference leading up to the 2016 presidential election, arguing it was a tricky situation and it’s easier to say in hindsight that more could have been said.

“The bottom line was it was tricky as hell. It’s easy now to say, ‘Well, maybe we should’ve said more,’” Biden said during an appearance at the Council on Foreign Relations. 

Initial intelligence community reports showed that Russia was attempting to delegitimize the United States’ electoral process, Biden said. Then-CIA Director John Brennan suggested issuing a bipartisan warning to Russia in response, Biden said.

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“We went up and [Senate Majority Leader] Mitch McConnell — who I get on with well, smart guy — wanted no part of having a bipartisan commitment that we would say essentially, ‘Russia is doing this, stop.’ So it couldn’t be used as a weapon against a Democratic nominee of a president trying to use the intelligence committee,” Biden said.

Previous reports have stated that McConnell opposed releasing the intelligence and would have viewed the release by the White House as a partisan attack.

The intelligence community concluded that Russia interfered in the 2016 presidential election in an attempt to help President Trump win the White House. Multiple congressional committees are currently conducting investigations to determine the scope and effects of Russian meddling.

The Obama administration faced criticism for not taking a stronger stance or notifying the public of Russian interference prior to the election. 

“There was this constant tight rope was being walked here as to what would we do,” Biden said Tuesday.

In the weeks leading up to the election, Biden said, then-President Barack Obama faced a difficult choice about whether to speak out. If Obama publicly declared Russia was attempting to influence the election, Biden worried he’d be accused of “unilaterally” trying to tip the vote in Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton’s favor.

“Can you imagine if the president of the United States called a press conference in October with this fella, and [Stephen] Bannon and company, and said ‘tell you what, the Russians are trying to interfere in our elections and we have to do something about it,’” Biden said. 

“What do you think would have happened?” Biden continued. “Would things have gotten better, or would it further look like we were attempting to delegitimize the electoral process because of our opponent.”

Biden is considered a potential Democratic nominee for president in 2020. He has indicated he may launch a campaign, but has not definitively said if he’ll run.