Sony hack may have inspired Russian election hacking - U.S. lawmaker

Representative Adam Schiff (D-CA) waves after speaking at the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S. July 27, 2016. REUTERS/Gary Cameron

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. failure to retaliate strongly for the 2014 cyber attack against Sony Pictures may have helped inspire Russian hackers who sought to interfere in the 2016 U.S. election, a senior congressional Democrat said on Tuesday.

"Russia may have concluded that they could hack American institutions and there'd be no price to pay," Representative Adam Schiff, the top Democrat on the House of Representatives Intelligence Committee, said at a press breakfast sponsored by the Christian Science Monitor.