"I don't want to over-state this, but these were very tense meetings."
This was the comment by Senator John Kennedy (R-LA) upon his return from meeting with the Russians.
It sounds like someone must have shone the light in these Senators eyes. They seem to have a different perspective about what is happening in Russia.
Also, they probably did not like being mocked by Russian press, which is what was reported.
===============
https://www.thedailybeast.com/gop-senators-tell-contradictory-stories-about-moscow-trip?ref=home
<snip>
“Russian officials were under the impression that only Democrats were critical of Russia for its election-meddling and its incursions into eastern Europe.”
<snip>
That’s why Johnson raised eyebrows when, after returning from the nine-day trip with five of his fellow GOP senators, he suggested that the U.S. should evaluate whether the sanctions currently in place are successfully harming Russian interests because “you'd be hard-pressed to say that sanctions against Russia are really working all that well.” He also appeared to downplay the significance of election interference, saying it was “not the greatest threat to our democracy” and “we’ve blown it way out of proportion.”
His colleagues, who attended the same meetings with Russian lawmakers and Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, had a different impression. Sen. Richard Shelby (R-AL), who led the congressional delegation, said in an interview that he and his colleagues told their Russian counterparts that “the worst thing you can do is try to meddle in our elections.” The senators also disputed Johnson’s argument about the effectiveness of sanctions.
“The Russian leadership that we met with talked about the sanctions and how they were making no difference, but then they kept talking about the sanctions,” Kennedy said when asked about Johnson’s comments.
= new reply since forum marked as read
