After Donald Trump committed high treason on the international stage Monday, siding with Moscow over Russian meddling in the 2016 American presidential election, the president is now claiming he was “very strong” with Russian president Vladimir Putin about “not having” any interference in upcoming elections.
Perhaps that explains why House Republicans are refusing to fund election security in a new spending bill.
After all, the president said it’s not going to happen again (after first denying it happened at all). He’s taken care of it, so that’s that.
Right?
A federal Election Assistance Commission grant assists states in administering their elections and improving voting systems, most of which are obsolete.
Democrats expected the House to continue funding the program through at least 2019. House Republicans, however, claim the program is “fully funded,” despite the Department of Homeland Security head confirming Russia hacked several states’ elections; ousted Secretary of State, Rex Tillerson, confirmed the United States is still vulnerable to similar meddling; Trump’s own FBI director, Christopher Wray, assured Moscow’s efforts are still “very active” and “could be just a moment away from it going to the next level;” and Director of National Intelligence, Dan Coats, warned last week that almost two decades after the September 11, 2001 attacks, “warning lights are blinking red again” for a devastating cyber assault on critical U.S. infrastructure.
Democrats argue that by failing to provide the necessary funding, the Republican party is “aiding and abetting” Trump and, by extension, Russia.
Rep. David N. Cicilline (D-RI) argued:
“The American people should be very worried about the commitment of this president and his Republican allies in Congress to securing our elections. This is a party that has worked with this administration to undermine and minimize the investigation surrounding Russian interference in our presidential election.”
Despite all the intelligence evidence, Trump replied “no” on Wednesday when a reporter inquired whether Russia was “still targeting the U.S.”
Hours later, White House press secretary, Sarah Sanders, claimed “we believe the threat still exists,” and that Trump was responding to a different question.
When pressed about what he meant on Monday when he claimed “I will say this: I don’t see any reason why it would be [Russian intelligence interfering in the election],” Trump tried to explain it away by saying he accidentally used “would” instead of “wouldn’t.”
Image credit: Mother Jones
