my closing questions to you, mr. hicks. mr. hicks, you have to recognize that this concerted effort to suppress the vote is real, has been documented and it's a concerted effort of russia. where do you on the commission stand with that or do you address it? >> that's something for the department of justice to address, but personally, i've always worked towards ensuring that voter confidence remains high when i worked in the house, when i worked in massachusetts and so forth. so ensuring that people have their right to vote and that they can do so without encumbrance. right now while this committee is having its hearing, the eac is holding a language summit for folks who have access issues to the polls based on language over at the museum. that's being webcast and there is about 150 people right there learning more about access. >> i yield back. >> the gentlelady yield back. the gentleman from texas is recognized. >> thank you, mr. chairman. i also thank the gentlewoman and gentleman from north carolina for their courtesy. my opi

mr. hicks, mr. louis oliver and mr. hatch? we're all on the same page and we're going to secure the election? >> that's my sworn duty. >> yes, sir. >> okay. i have exhausted my time. i thank the gentleman for his courtesy and i yield back. >> the gentleman yield back. the gentleman from north carolina, mr. matos. >> thank you, mr. chairman. mr. krebs, thank you for articulating how clearly you feel the mission is for you and your team. we have all kinds of narratives that are out there, but will you reiterate for this committee and perhaps for the american people your primary responsibilities to make sure that our election process is secure and that every vote is counted, counted accurately, not double counted and not interfered with, is that correct? >> yes, sir. >> so -- and you've had that articulated from the administration to you and that you feel empowered to do that? >> i have a very clear guidance from my secretary. i have received guidance from the white house. i am empowered to do any job. i have clarity of mission,

mr. hicks. >> good morning, chairman gowdy, ranking member cummings and .embers of the committee. morng i am pleased to testify on the u.s. elections commission's work conductlocal leaders efficient, safe, and secure local elections. congress established the eac as an independent commission, adopting voluntary voting guidelines and certifying election systems, serving as the national clearinghouse of information on election administration, as well as auditing. i am pleased to report we continue to fulfill this message -- michigan -- mission day in and day out and our work does indeed help america vote. entity is the only focused on the administration -- entity solely focused on the administration of elections. pend only part of this time working on the same issue including those who specialize in technology and cyber security. our partners range from dhs and the fbi to the u.s. postal service and dod, relying on the eac to provide the knowledge about how elections work and a clear line of commu

mr. hicks, i have a question for you, what advice is the election assistance commission, your area provide to state and local officials when evaluating vendors for cyber security? >> we operate under the voluntary guidelines. that is a voluntary system. if a vendor wants to submit a system for certification that we would give them guidance on that. >> thank you. i yield back. >> the gentle lady from new york is recognized. >> thank you. inc. mr. chairman for calling this really vital, important hearing. this past weekend i went on a faith in politics pilgrimage, a bipartisan led by tom reed to upstate new york. the home of two of the vital human rights social justice, civil rights movement in our country, the right to abolish slavery, the fight to abolish slavery in the fight to grant women the right to vote. we went to the graves of harriet tubman, frederick douglass, susan b anthony, all people who dedicated their lives to freedom and the right to vote for american citizens. i cannot think of

mr. hicks, this is complicated stuff, decentralized system, all kinds of voting systems and machines and all of that. is it safe to say, though, that the simplest rule should be there should always be a paper backup? >> senator, thank you for that question. it depends on the state. we cannot basically regulate to -- >> i'm not suggesting regulation, i'm suggesting suggestion -- i mean, it seems to me this is a basic thing, we are not saying that they have to do it, but if you don't have a paper backup it's very hard to determine whether you've got an accurate count. >> paper is interesting because everyone can't use paper. so if you have a disability, you come back from iraq with no hands, it's hard to do that paper piece of it. so i would say that if we can do security with paper, to make sure that it's accessible to those who have disabilities, then i would say that that's 100% right that we should have a paper backup. >> i want to direct a question to mr. romine and mr. masterson. i serve on

mr. hicks, this is complicated stuff. decentralized system, different -- all kinds of voting systems and machines and all of that. is it safe to say, though, that the simplest rule should there should always be a paper backup? >> senator, thank you for that question. it depends on the state. we can't basically regulate -- >> i'm not suggesting regulate. i'm suggesting -- it seems to me this is a basic thing. we're not saying they have to do it. but if you don't have a paper backup, it's hard to determine whether you have an accurate count. paper is interesting because not everyone can use paper. you have a disability, you come back from iraq with no hands, it's hard to use that paper. so, i would say if we can do security with paper, to make sure it's accessible to those that have disabilities, then i would say that's 100% right, we should have a paper backup. >> i work on the cyber community. one of the most powerful tools we have is a red stamp and bug bounties. it seems to me -- one of my concerns is that the states ar

i yield back to my colleague mr. hicks. >> thank you. mr. chairman, and the interest of our partisanship perhaps we could consider as a committee around the table to discuss this issue, we all care about the same thing. mr. o'rourke, thank you for being here. do you generally recognize sir that this is an era of reform in the va? that the va has been a mess for decades? it didn't get that way under one administration or one executive or one va committee? and this committee in a very bipartisan matter has touched my spirit, has embraced the spirit to reform -- has embraced the challenge to reform the va. but does the va get it that this is an era of reform? >> i don't think any organization self reforms. it is going to be what the leadership of this group -- >> is there a clear understanding within the culture that you described, if you could change one thing or if you can identify one thing that reflects this era, of the va as an era of accountability. but i'm going to talk about is their consequence to accountability? i'm just asking you si

with bill o'reilly, i watched with disbelief as the white house communications director hope hicks summoned mrhe could speak to mr. trump privately. in my five years with barack obama, off the record discussions happened. when the president spoke with a reporter, his staff made sure to have a stenographer present so there could be an official white house transcript in case the reporter came out with an inaccurate quotation. that was then and this was the trump era. your thoughts about not having a transcript anymore available. even to the white house. >> well, look. i think for president trump the truth has been, speaking the truth has been a bit of a disability. for him to get into a fight over what he said, what the reporters think he said, it makes him the winner of the battle. if he goes tow to toe with journalists, his base will believe him. so this is a defensive measure. >> i think this is important for reasons beyond the moment. this is part of the his, toal record. it has been an important part of the way presidents have operated in modern times, to make sure there is a full record of

mr. trump campaign spokeswoman hope hicks said we had no knowledge of any of this. this claim of an affair was totally untrue so you have some going back and forth about the payment. >> melissa: we are reading through this as everyone is but it sounded like they discussed a possible payment and said if you do it, make sure you use a check to that there a record of it. >> jessica: michael cohen has also said. >> harris: we don't know if they knew it or not. >> jessica: we also heard a where he paid out of his own pocket. so that was one iteration of this so rudy giuliani has copped to the reality of this and he said there are many other women to come and then he had to backtrack on that. your member when he first started and he was going on tv every day messing up. >> melissa: that doesn't contradict this. >> jessica: we heard somebody different versions. it is a different version that he actually made these payments because giuliani is saying here that they just talked about the payments, the payment wasn't made. >> chris: who hear what actually hire michael cohen a

mr. trump to i will testify the president knew about a campaign meeting with russians. former communications director hope hicks oval office now and in the know on many big questions being explored by the special counsel. ex-national security adviser michael flynn cooperating with the special counsel. "the wall street journal" reporting this week the man who knows the ins and outs of the president's finances has been subpoenaed. to listen to rudy giuliani, the president took cohen's turn especially hard. >> he wasn't angry. you know president trump can get angry sometimes. he was disappointed, almost like a father who's been betrayed by his son. it was very moving for jay and me. >> like a father who's been betrayed by his son. >> it's a little dramatic. you know, i think we've seen repeatedly in the white house what's been on display in the trump organization for years and years, which is that the president expects loyalty, but he doesn't return loyalty. loyalty is often not paid. that's certainly on display now on the national stage with michael cohen. >> and one lawmaker told me yesterday that it really reve

weren't referring to outside counsel back when hope hicks was lying or maybe she was being lied to and given a lie to the american people. >>> more on mrine in just a moment, but first more on what could be motivating michael cohen. joining us now who shares a byline on the piece titled i'm not going to be a punching bag anymore. it's a fascinating article. what are you learning about what drove for michael cohen to release this recording? >> michael cohen is famous sly loyal to the point where he said he'd take a bullet for donald trump has become increasingly disenchanted and has felt abandoned by the president, the man who he served so loyally over the years. there were a couple of things people apparently close to him tell us put him over the edge. one were giuliani's statements describing michael cohen's role and what happened in some of these discussions involving stormy daniels and others. and then secondly there was a report that the trump organization balked at some point of paying some of cohen's legal bills after his offices and residences were searched by the fbi. and that put cohen over the top. it made him feel abandoned.

mr. rudy giuliani and his comments regarding this case would fly in the face of what the administration have said all along. hope hicksmmunication director says the event never happened and we don't know what this is about. how can rudy giuliani acknowledge, yes, there was this phone conversation months after the administration in. nothing to see here. >> you are representing a client that stands in front of the world in hins elsinki and says thing and comes back and said that's it is just one word that he got wrong. they have to admit to contradiction all along. >> you say contradictions, are some of them out right lies? >> they are out right lies. >>> in a legal proceedings you can't try to play word games or spin games. if there are tapes that in criminate anyway of the president, all exposes that they were absolutely lying because we don't know who mueller's people have interviewed. now you are in an area where this is not -- to quote the god father, "get ready for the big pay back." >> james brown here. >> who that al sharpton does not know. michael cohen is basically under skruting in the southern district of ne

hicks, excuse me. denied that he knew anything about the mcdougal matter in november before the election. a lie. and here mr. trump is not surprised when mr. cohen mentions there needs to be financing, and he immediately say, "cash." he doesn't say what the transcript that you're telling me says. he says "cash," and my client has been discharged over and over again by mr. giuliani with misinformation and misstatements. for example, what we have heard over and over again is that mr. cohen is living lavishly, and no mention is made that there was a tremendous flood in his apartment. he's living in a hotel with insurance paying for his hotel room. 14 times on the dossier, his name is mentioned and publicly posted where absolute rebuttals, false that he was ever in prague. there's been a campaign out of the white house to discharge mr. cohen. and why is that? chris, because he's got truth on his side now, and he intends to tell the truth. >> all right. fine. all of that be that as it may, that is extraneous to what we're talking about with this tape and what is said on the tape and what is meant. giuliani argue

his spokeswoman hope hicks told the "wall street journal," "we have no knowledge of any of this," she said of miss mcdougle's claim of an affair with mr. trump was totally untrue. >>> m.j., help us break down what this clatape says and doest say. >> the audio quality is not great. we are already seeing a significant dispute on one of the parts of the tape that we heard at the very end. if you listen carefully, you heard donald trump saying the words -- pay with cash. then michael cohen responding, no, no, no. . now the two sides, donald trump's camp, and michael cohen's camp, are offering their different interpretations of what exactly was said in that moment. take a listen to rudy giuliani and lanny davis, the lawyers for donald trump and michael cohen, offering their explanations of what we actually heard. >> i agree with you that the tape is a little bit hard to hear. but i assure you that we listened to it numerous, numerous times. the transcript makes it quite clear at the end that president trump says, quote, don't pay with cash. cohen then interrupts and says, no, no, no, i got it. then you hear distinctly, if you're careful an

we will start with chairman hicks from the election advisory committee, and then go to commissioner mccormick and then dr. romaine. and mr. masterson. >> good morning mr. chairman. i am pleased to testify before you today to discuss u.s. elections assistance commissions work to support election leaders in her efforts to conduct efficient elections. the commission takes pride in the resources and assistance we provide to election officials and voters, as well as the vital role we play as a national clearinghouse of election administration information for partners in congress, federal agencies, state and local governments, private industry, advocacy organizations, academia, and others in the election industry. this is emphasized by witnesses at the last hearing. we focus solely on elections, serving as a central hub for others it's been only part of their time working on this important issue, including those who specialize in technology and cyber security. our partners range from the department of homeland security, federal bureau of investigations, u.s. postal service, rely on this eac to provide deep knowledge on how ele

mr. trump a decade ago, a story that american media nev ran. in the report, the company disputed the characterization of the payment. and then-spokeswoman hope hicks responded on behalf of the tru mpaign: "we have no knowledge of any of this." today, the dispute between lawyers for the two men, was over what was actually said in the recording about how the payment to pecker could be made. lanny davis, an attorney for cohen, told abc this: >> the word is "cash." everybody should listen to the tape to see if i'm right or t. >> alcindor: while rudy giuliani, a personal attorneyro for mr. trump,: "why are (cohen) and lanny davis misrepresenting the language from president trump "do not pay by cash... check.'" the apparent break between ssesident trump and his long- time aiate comes despite cohen's past statements of loyalty.he told "vanity fair" magazine i'r an article last year--m the guy who would take a bullet for the president." but since then, it has become public that federal authoritiesr in new yorinvestigating cohen.e >> he's nowdicated to telling the truth to everyone and we'll see what happens. >> as to the wh behind cohen's apparent break w

hicks, a trump campaign spokeswoman, said of the agreement with ms. mcdougal, we have no knowledge of any of this. she said that ms. mcdougall's claim of an affair with mrump was totally untrue. we now have president trump on tape talking about such a deal. joining us, simone sanders, also campaign manager for hillary clinton, robert moore. i have you guys here to talk about the future of campaigns, but i want to wrap up the past. hope hicks denied that they had any knowledge of an agreement with karen mcdougal. had the campaign admitted they knew about this, would that have had an impact on the election? >> i'm sure it would have had an impact if we had this tape. how much i can't say. but i will say we knew the president lied. we knew that before election daigh. we knew that the russians had some sort of bizarre influence over him. but coming out of election day, there have been so many things. meetings with the russians, other lies that he's told that we've learned, and i think the most important lesson coming out of this tape and everything else is we've just got to start believing that the president is lying when we hear it the first time. the patt

mr. trump controlled the story in case the american media, david p -- gets hit by a trump. american bought the rights in august and just days before americans voted, campaign spokesperson, hope hicks, said, we have no knowledge of any of this. maybe she didn't and was lied to as well. nevertheless it's hard to think allen would and he's been at the organization since his father was there and he would know if his old boss was lying or concealing something when he said this in january 2017. >> i tweeted out i have no dealings with russia. i have no deals in russia. i have no deals that could happen in russia. because we stayed away. i have no loans with russia. as a real estate developer i have very little debt. people found out how big the company is. little debt. i have no loans with russia at all. that was important to put out. i certify that. i have no deals, no loans and no dealings. >> as chief financial officer of the trump organization allen would know if that's true and had plenty to say about this press conference which seems like so long ago. >> what i am going to be doing my two sons here, don and eric, are going to be running the company, they are going to be running it

hope hicks, when she was communications director, she came out and said, she stated from her own lips, that trump knew nothing about this payment. he knew nothing about mrs. mcdougal. he knew nothing about any payment that was made to her, quote, unquote hush money. we found out that was not true. we found out that donald trump and michael cohen, they negotiated this. they put this together. they may say it's a reimbursement to the "national enquirer," but what we do know is donald trump lied about this. his white house lied about this. and, chris, let me just say this. we lived through eight years of barack obama when the drama that we had with barack obama was him ordering honey dijon mustard and wearing tan suits. my question to everyone watching is what if this was barack obama? we have not one playboy playmate but two. >> well, if trump had his way, we also would have had the president marred in whether or not he was born in this country. but, rick santorum, it seems that team trump is happy this tape came out. why? >> well, first off, there was no payment made. i don't know what bakari is talking about. there was no payment made. there was payment

mr. masterson, i guess to you and hicks and christy mccormick, what are your agencies doing to further post-election audits in every state? >> so we worked with our government coordinating counsel who created funding considerations so considerations for the use of the hava funds that congress appropriated, included in those is stressing the importance of post-election auditing and the need to conduct post-election audits. so we're continuing to work with the government coordinating council on those practices. >> ms. mccormick. >> we provided a lot of information to the states on how they could use the hava funds and post-election audits were included in ways they could use that money and we will provide guidance in that regard if the states choose to use their money in that way. >> same. >> same. >> yeah. are states working well with the election assistance commission and the department of homeland security to ensure ample communication and sharing of resources to ensure elections are secure, and what can be done to improve communication with the states? >> we are looking -- we are working a lot bet