U.S. lawmakers describe President Trump and Putins summit in Helsinki as a 'show of treason'
U.S. lawmakers called out President Donald Trump yesterday over his uncritical comments towards Russia during a landmark summit with Vladimir Putin, calling it “shameful”, “dangerous” and “verging on treason.”
Senior Republican Senator Lindsey Graham described
Trump’s Helsinki summit and joint press conference with Putin as a
“missed opportunity” to hold Russia accountable for meddling in the 2016
election.
Trump’s answer to a question on election interference, in which he
attacked US Democrats rather than Moscow’s spies, “will be seen by
Russia as a sign of weakness and create far more problems than it
solves,” Graham charged.
Senator Jeff Flake, a fellow Republican and staunch
critic of the president, labelled his performance “shameful. I never
thought I would see the day when our American President would stand on
the stage with the Russian President and place blame on the United
States for Russian aggression. This is shameful,” he said in a tweet.
Representative Frank LoBiondo, a Republican on the
House Intelligence Committee, which is investigating Russian election
meddling, noted that just on Friday US prosecutors indicted 12 Russian
spies for hacking Democratic computers during the election. “It is clear
Russia’s intentions,” he said. “President Trump missed opportunity to
hold Putin publicly accountable.”
Democrats had stronger words for the president.
Chuck Schumer, the senior Democrat in the Senate
called Trump’s appearance of siding with Putin over the allegations of
election interference “dangerous and weak”.
“In the entire history of our country, Americans have never seen a
president of the United States support an American adversary the way
@realDonaldTrump has supported President Putin. For
the president of the United States to side with President Putin against
American law enforcement, American defence officials, and American
intelligence agencies is thoughtless, dangerous, and weak. The president
is putting himself over our country,” Schumer charged.
Democratic California Representative Jimmy Gomez accused Trump of continuing to “sell out” his own country to Russia.
“To side with Putin over U.S. intelligence is disgusting; to fail to
defend the U.S. is on the verge of treason. All Americans should be
worried.”
Congressman Adam Schiff, the senior Democrat on the House
Intelligence Committee, said Trump had given Putin “a green light to
interfere in 2018.”
Democratic Senator Chris Murphy was even more direct in his criticism.
“This entire trip has just been one giant middle finger from
President Trump to his own country. Just jaw dropping,” he wrote on
Twitter.
Two former US intelligence chiefs expressed shock over Trump’s appearance of “capitulating” to Putin.
“Donald Trump’s press conference performance in Helsinki rises to
& exceeds the threshold of ‘high crimes & misdemeanors.’ It was
nothing short of treasonous,” said John Brennan, director of the Central
Intelligence Agency from 2013 to 2017.
James Clapper, Director of National Intelligence from 2010 to 2017, called Trump’s performance “an incredible capitulation.”
“It is truly unbelievable. On the world stage… the president of the
United States essentially capitulated and seemed intimidated by Vladimir
Putin,” Clapper said.
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