Why were the panel participants today not all from our government?

[Equinox Moon]

I was expecting to hear from inside our intel agencies not private cyber companies.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

1. Because they know a lot more about cyber crimes than anyone else

and probably have worked as government contractors.

[Equinox Moon]

3. Okay, but...

Were they part of the investigation or just expert witnesses? The Chair, oddly, hovered the topic of how expert they all were.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

5. I believe they were called in as expert witnesses

and not so much as percipient or fact witnesses. Their function was primarily to explain how the Russians were using cyber warfare methods such as trolls, bots, etc. to influence the politics of other countries.

[Equinox Moon]

7. Now this is helpful information.

They did not make that clear to the average viewer however.

The first guy was one huge advertisement for his cyber business. YUK!!! They should have made it clear bringing him in, NO PROMO!

[H2O Man]

2. Good question.

It's because the intelligence community works with several private groups on internet security.

[Equinox Moon]

4. Yet, they were not introduced as being part of our internal investigation.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

6. Keep in mind that this is not a trial and they are not bound by

the rules of evidence that would apply in a trial. They can call any witnesses they want and ask any questions they want.

[Equinox Moon]

8. Yep.

I did not see all of it, but at one point Rubio seemed to be taking up time with some mundane question. I can't remember the topic of it at this current moment in time.

[H2O Man]

10. If it ends up

in trials, they will be called as witnesses. The intelligence community did coordinate with private computer experts.

[H2O Man]

9. Right.

They are indeed part of the intelligence community's investigation. If you read Malcolm Nance's outstanding book on the Russian hacking etc, he explains it in great detail.