CHICAGO — Democratic U.S. Rep. Mike Quigley said Monday that Russian operatives hacked into the Illinois State Board of Elections last year to view voter database files, a potential move toward trying to make voters distrust the state and federal election system.

“The Russians hacked into the Illinois State Board of Elections,” Quigley said after a meeting with the Chicago Tribune Editorial Board. “They got into the database. I believe they’re on the doorstep to hacking into our voting systems. That is my educated guess.

“I’m not saying I know they’ll do this, (but) think about what you could do. You could check and say, ‘Oh no, all these people already voted, or these people voted absentee.’ Once you get into that, then there’s all kind of mischief,” Quigley said.

Quigley, a member of the House Intelligence Committee, also warned of a potential “constitutional crisis” over executive privilege between President Donald Trump and the U.S. Supreme Court as part of multiple investigations into possible collusion between agents of the Russian government and Trump’s presidential campaign.

According to the Chicago Tribune, Quigley’s declaration of Russian involvement in the hacking of the state elections board marked the first time the country had been definitively identified as behind the attack last year, though it had been widely suspected.

The Democrat said the intelligence committee should look at classifying election systems as a “target” that should be hardened and given federal resources.

“If the committee ended right now, that would be my first recommendation,” Quigley said.

As for the House Intelligence Committee investigation, Quigley said, “I am concerned we will face a constitutional crisis,” adding it was something he was not saying lightly.