Apr 26, 2018 Issues statement supporting corruption probe, decrying misuse of “Russiagate” for warmongering, censorship and political repression. Calls for “Emergency Commission” to defend elections. For Immediate Release April 26, 2018PRESS CONTACT: Dave Schwab 518-610-2708 Schwab@Jill2016.com Today Green Party 2016 presidential candidate Jill Stein announced that she has completed handing over emails and other documents in response to the Senate Intelligence Committee’s request for information pertaining to Russian interference in the 2016 election. Stein reiterated her strong support for legitimate inquiry into corruption, quid pro quo deals, money laundering, obstruction of justice and other illegal activity in the 2016 election. She cautioned, however, against over-reach and misuse of “Russiagate” to promote warmongering, censorship, and suppression of opposition to the political establishment. To that effect, she warned, “Russiagate” is both symptom and further cause of our current state of rampant militarism that is harming our democracy. Stein also noted that explosive conditions in Syria illustrate the danger of “Russiagate” warmongering. She emphasized that US-Russian dialogue is critically important, as it was in the Cuban missile crisis of 1962, with diplomacy being the only effective pathway to solving the expanding crises of war, nuclear confrontation and climate catastrophe. Stein observed that concerns about election interference – whether by foreign governments, criminal networks, domestic partisans, voter suppression schemes or other sources – are not diminishing as the 2018 midterms approach.The Cambridge Analytica-Facebook scandal in particular adds to growing concerns. She called for a nonpartisan Emergency Commission for Election Protection and Voting Justice to ensure the right of every American to “a vote we can trust – that is accurate, secure and just.” Stein herself is overseeing the only known post-election investigation of potential voting machine hacking in 2016. While providing documents responsive to the Committee’s requests, Stein objected to requests for constitutionally protected materials, including the improper request by the bipartisan committee for internal policy deliberations of her campaign, the flagship for an opposition political party. She declined to provide this material, noting the request intrudes into the First Amendment rights of political and associational freedom that are critical to political liberty for all Americans. Such Constitutional threats add to the dangerous current climate in which progressive political opposition, social movements, and the anti-war community are being targeted with censorship, surveillance and political intimidation. Stein’s proposals to protect elections, civil liberties and democracy without resorting to warmongering, censorship or repression are addressed in a longer statement that can be found at https://www.jill2016.com/stein_senate_statement.