“Anyone who believes that our President should put the United States above Russia should be deeply concerned by what they saw today”
“President Trump has insulted our intelligence community & actively hurt American interests around the world—and Republican leaders need to stand with Democrats & people across the country in not only condemning President Trump, but in taking action to hold Russia accountable & protect our country from future attacks”
(Washington, D.C.) – Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) issued the statement below following President Trump’s July 16 meeting with Russian President Vladamir Putin in Helsinki, Finland.
“President Trump has set a very high bar for shock and dismay over the course of his Administration, but today’s press conference cleared that bar with room to spare. It was truly horrifying and deeply alarming to see the President of the United States stand with the President of Russia in undercutting the work of our intelligence agencies and law enforcement, and blaming America for the attacks on our elections and our democracy. Anyone who believes that our President should put the United States above Russia should be deeply concerned by what they saw today. And anyone who is wondering why the President of the United States is choosing to defend Russia and blame America should join us in asking what, or who, President Trump is being motivated by.
“President Trump stood side-by-side today with President Putin and failed to push him to end his attacks on our country and our elections, failed to condemn Russia’s actions in Syria, Ukraine, or anywhere else—and in fact, he actually defended him on all fronts. This is appalling and inexcusable. Despite what President Trump would have us believe today, the U.S intelligence community concluded more than a year ago that Russia did in fact interfere in our elections. What’s more, there is every reason to believe Russia will do it again in the next election—the Director of National Intelligence said as much last week, among many others.
“President Trump has insulted our intelligence community and law enforcement and actively hurt American interests around the world—and Republican leaders need to stand with Democrats and people across the country in not only condemning President Trump, but in taking action to hold Russia accountable and protect our country from future attacks.”
Background: In January 2017, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence released a report from the U.S. intelligence community confirming their analysis that President Putin ordered an influence campaign in 2016 aimed at the U.S. presidential election on behalf of Donald Trump’s campaign, with goals to “undermine public faith in the U.S. democratic process, denigrate Secretary Clinton, and harm her electability and potential presidency.” Last Friday, Special counsel Robert Mueller indicted twelve Russian intelligence officers accused of interfering in the 2016 U.S. presidential election.
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