Sen. Ben Cardin, D-Md., said Friday that although Russia definitely “tried” to influence the election, the outcome wasn’t "determined by Russia," on CNN.
"There is no question that Russia tried to influence our election," Cardin said. "That is now well established. They tried to influence the election in favor of [President Donald] Trump."
He added, "There were many connections between Russia and representatives of the Trump campaign. The investigations taking place are going to give us some of those answers, but there is no question that Russia was active in our last election."
But when asked if he was suggesting that Trump won because of Russia, Cardin answered, "No, I’m no suggesting the outcome was determined by Russia, but we do know Russia tried to influence the outcome of our election. That’s a very serious matter, and we also know there were contacts made with members of the Trump campaign. That’s very disturbing."
He continued, "So the investigation will give us, I hope, the answers for two reasons. People need to be held accountable but we also need to protect ourselves against further activities from Russia. They’re clearly going to try this again in the future, and we have to protect our democratic system of government."
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