Former Homeland Security head issues fiery statement on the Trump-Russia investigation

Former Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson said in a written statement that the Russian government, and by extension, its president Vladimir Putin, had "orchestrated cyberattacks" on the US "for the purpose of influencing our election – plain and simple."

The statement, delivered , preceded Johnson's scheduled Wednesday testimony before the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. It was the latest affirmation by a former top US official about Russia's US-election interference.

Johnson floated the idea of including "election infrastructure" into the US's 16 "critical infrastructures" — governmental sectors; such as financial services, dams, transportation, government facilities, that are vital to the country. By adding election infrastructure into the list, it meant the DHS would prioritize requests from election officials, including cybersecurity protections.

During an August conference call with election officials from every state, Johnson reiterated that "

Johnson and his team called this a "" and ended up dropping their efforts to establish a designation because they thought it would have been "counterproductive" during the election season.

"Instead, and more importantly in the time left before the election, we encouraged the states to seek our cybersecurity help," Johnson continued. "Prior to the election, encouraging the horses to come to the water had to be the primary objective."

Following the 2016 US presidential election, Johnson reported that his team's efforts were unsuccessful: "... My staff reported to me that state officials’ said views of the designation had not changed, and continued to be neutral to negative."

In August and September, Johnson and other security officials, including former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, became "increasingly convinced" that Russia had perpetrated the election process by hacking the DNC and other political figures.

"With the experience fresh in our minds and clear in our rear-view mirror, we must resolve to further strengthen our cybersecurity generally, and the cybersecurity around our political/election process specifically."

In the early months of President Donald Trump's term, the congressional probe has gone through a circuitous process that has seen the recusal of several top US officials, including the

Former Homeland Security head issues fiery statement on the Trump-Russia investigation

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