NSA Head: US Alerted France to Russian Interference in Election

The U.S. notified France that Russia might have been involved in France's presidential election, according to Mike Rogers, the National Security Agency director, who also heads U.S. Cyber Command.

Rogers made the comments Tuesday in a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing, The Hill reported.

Friday, before the French presidential election on Sunday, emails from candidate Emmanuel Macron's campaign were leaked onto the Internet in a "massive and coordinated hacking attack," a statement from Macron’s team said.

Macron went on to win the French presidency anyway.

"We talked to our French counterparts prior to the announcement of the events that were publicly attributed this past weekend and gave them a heads-up. 'Look, we're watching the Russians, we’re seeing them penetrate some of your infrastructure,'" Rogers said, according to a report in Wired.

Rogers, during the hearing, noted that he would not provide specific information because the hearing was not closed, The Hill reported.

Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., asked Rogers at the hearing if Rogers had seen a reduction in Russian cyberattacks.

"No, I have not,” he said, adding that the U.S. needed to call out Russia on the issue. “They need to know we will publicly identify this behavior,” Rogers said.

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