WASHINGTON, D.C - Congressman Brian Fitzpatrick (PA-08), the only former FBI agent in Congress, released the following statement Friday regarding the indictment of 13 Russian nationals and three Russian businesses who sought to interfere in the 2016 election:

“I commend the investigative team for their commitment to bringing to justice those hostile actors who seek to undermine our institutions and our elections. With today’s indictments and yesterday’s announcement of the Kremlin’s direct role in the massive ‘NotPetya’ attack in Ukraine, it is clear that Russia continues to use cyber weapons to sow division and distrust both here and abroad. Our nation will not tolerate this conduct and must serve harsh justice to those who engage in such actions.”

Fitzpatrick, a co-chair of the Congressional Ukraine Caucus, is the author of the Ukraine Cybersecurity Cooperation Act [H.R. 1997] – legislation which aims to encourage cyber-security collaboration between the United States and Ukraine and requires State Department reporting to Congress on best practices to protect against future cyber-attacks. The bipartisan measure passed the House last week.