Lawmakers are demanding answers from Twitter about the massive hack that took over accounts including Kim Kardashian and Bill Gates

• State and federal lawmakers are asking Twitter to explain what led to the massive hack Wednesday that compromised prominent accounts including Barack Obama, Kim Kardashian, and Bill Gates.
• The Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation sent a letter to Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey Thursday asking Twitter to brief lawmakers by next week.
• The letter comes as the FBI and regulators in New York have both opened investigations into the hack.
• Twitter has said the breach took place after hackers compromised a Twitter employee's account and gained access to internal tools, but many details remain unclear.

After a massive hack compromised the Twitter accounts of tech leaders and politicians including Barack Obama, Joe Biden, Bill Gates, and Jeff Bezos, lawmakers are demanding an explanation from the social media company.

Hackers compromised dozens of high-profile accounts Wednesday afternoon and used them to urge people to send Bitcoin to a specific link. It took Twitter more than an hour to regain control of the accounts, during which the site suspended the ability of all verified accounts to send tweets.

In a letter to CEO Jack Dorsey Thursday, Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation chair Roger Wicker, a Mississippi Republican, asked that Twitter brief lawmakers on the situation by July 23 at the latest.

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"It cannot be overstated how troubling this incident is, both in its effects and in the apparent failure of Twitter's internal controls to prevent it," Wicker said in the letter, first reported by Gizmodo writer Dell Cameron.

Twitter said Wednesday night that the hack occured after hackers gained access to a Twitter employee's account that gave them control over internal moderation tools, but many details remain unclear.

Wicker's letter comes after both the FBI and New York State regulators announced that they would open investigations into the hack.

Twitter did not immediately respond to a request for comment.