*Will Republicans Insulate America From Trump And Putin?* RollingStone, July 19
- "Will Republicans Insulate America From Trump and Putin?": GOP leaders in Congress have been at odds over how to respond to the president’s disastrous performance in Helsinki, Rolling Stone, July 19, 2018.
The world may never know the full extent of President Trump’s relationship with Vladimir Putin. Their summit in Helsinki led many to believe the president is in some way compromised by his Russian counterpart, and Trump has repeatedly stumbled while trying to explain his submissive performance during Monday’s press conference, walking back his comments on Tuesday, then walking-back the walk-back Wednesday morning.
His latest position is that he does indeed believe Russia interfered in the 2016 election, for which he holds Putin personally responsible, albeit indirectly. “Well, I would, because he’s in charge of the country,” Trump said Wednesday when asked by CBS’ Jeff Glor whether he faults the Russian president. “Just like I consider myself to be responsible for things that happen in this country. So, certainly as the leader of a country, you would have to hold him responsible, yes.”
..Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Bob Corker (R-TN) and Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) have all at least said they’re willing to consider legislation, with Graham proposing sanctions that would be held in place until Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats can verify Russia is no longer attempting to meddle in America’s electoral process.
On Friday, Coats said “the warning lights are blinking red” and that “the digital infrastructure that serves this country is literally under attack.” Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), on the other hand, has attributed criticism of Trump’s performance at the summit to partisanship. “Trump Derangement Syndrome has officially come to the Senate,” Paul said Thursday. “Hatred for the president is so intense that partisans would rather risk war than give diplomacy a chance.”
>On Wednesday, Sens. Jeff Flake (R-AZ) and Jeff Coons (D-DE) introduced a resolution that would solidify the legislature’s stance toward the Mueller investigation and Russian election interference, while calling for hearings on what exactly took place at the summit in Helsinki.
As of Thursday, not even White House officials seem to know what was discussed in the private meeting between Trump and Putin...cont.
Read More, https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/republicans-trump-putin-701143/
- Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., talks to reporters after making a speech on the Senate floor calling for a resolution to back the U.S. intelligence community findings that Russia interfered in the 2016 election.
