A number of Congressman from across the United States are voicing their disapproval of what came out of President Trump’s recent meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Helsinki, Finland.
Among those expressing their concern is Illinois’ 18th District Congressman Darin LaHood.
During the press conference with Putin, Trump sided with the Russian President, who claimed that Russia did not interfere with the 2016 election, rather than support the findings of both the U.S. intelligence community and the House Committee on Intelligence, which determined that Russia in fact did interfere with the election.
When asked by Jonathan Lemire, a reporter for the Associated Press, if believes the findings of every U.S. Intelligence Agencies, which said Russia did interfere with the 2016 election, or if he believed President Putin, who denied any Russian Interference, Trump answered by shifting the question to where the Russian server is, and later said that Putin claimed that Russia did not interfere, and that he didn’t see any reason why it would be Russia that interfered.
Through his website and various social media outlets last night, LaHood released an official statement regarding the press conference. LaHood’s statement reads: “It is undeniable that Russia interfered with our democratic elections and continues to pose a threat to democracy both at home and abroad,” and that “these findings have been supported by both our intelligence community and the House Committee on Intelligence.” LaHood goes on to say that, “Russia, Vladimir Putin, and anyone who threatens the process of free and fair elections is no friend of the United States and shouldn’t be considered an ally,” referring to Putin as “an unelected dictator and thug” who should “be treated as such.”
LaHood goes on to say, “The President and his administration much hold Russia and Putin accountable for these actions on our democracy.” He concludes by saying that “President Trump should respect the findings of our intelligence professionals and assure that threats against our values and ideas are met with strong criticism and consequences.”
WLDS/WEAI News has reached out to LaHood’s office for comment but have yet to receive any word on when that might be. We hope to provide additional thoughts from LaHood if and when he is available for comment.