Washington, DC
Today, 140 Democratic members of the U.S. House of Representatives called on President Trump to follow the letter and spirit of the law by imposing sanctions against those behind Russia’s attacks on American democracy. In a letter led by Foreign Affairs Committee Ranking Member Eliot L. Engel, the lawmakers underscored that President Trump has failed to punish those responsible for meddling in the 2016 election from overseas and has done nothing to prevent future attacks, which his Administration acknowledges are already underway.
“Your actions over the last year have shown that you will constantly excuse President Putin and deny his well established assistance to your campaign in 2016. With this latest action, you are ignoring the law and the prerogatives of a coequal branch of government and letting Russia know you will do nothing to stop additional interference in our elections—interference that will presumably benefit your own political objectives,” wrote the members. “We’ve given you the tools needed to meet this challenge. If you continue to leave those tools on the shelf, we will push for additional legislative action with more stringent requirements. If you refuse to protect the United States from a hostile foreign government, Congress must act on our own. The future of our democracy is on the line.”
The full letter is available here.
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