People connected to the Russian government tried to hack election-related computer systems in 21 states, a Department of Homeland Security official testified Wednesday. . . .
In a separate hearing before the House Intelligence Committee Tuesday, former Department of Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson testified that Russia’s meddling, directed by President Vladimir Putin, was “unprecedented, the scale and the scope of what we saw them doing.” The testimony came a day after White House press secretary Sean Spicer said at a briefing he did not know whether President Trump believes Russia interfered in the 2016 presidential election.
The president’s reluctance to acknowledge Russia’s role combined with his secretary of state’s expressed reluctance to see tougher sanctions — a shameful bit of backsliding for a Republican administration that claimed Hillary Clinton was weak on Russia — continues to mystify onlookers. Other than indebtedness to Russia for its election boost and any financial deals that Russia might expose relating to the Trump clan (i.e. blackmail), we find it hard to think of any reason why Trump, who wants to “win” and make America strong, would act so meekly in the face of Russian bluster.
Russia has canceled a meeting between senior US and Russian officials that was aimed at resolving problems in the relationship between the two countries. The announcement comes after the US announced an expansion of sanctions against Russian individuals and legal entities in response to the ongoing crisis in Ukraine.
Having been challenged by Russia, it would now be disastrous for the administration and Congress to back down. That would only send a signal that something as slight as a canceled meeting is enough to send them scurrying for cover. Russian President Vladimir Putin has taken the measure of President Trump; if Trump delays or averts sanctions, Putin will readily conclude that Trump is a patsy. (That’s not an not unreasonable conclusion given Trump’s free pass on election interference and his personally delivered piece of code-word classified intelligence that Israel had not authorized him to share with Russia.) Trump may think denying Russian election meddling serves his ego and political purposes, but Putin sees it as weakness, if not rank foolishness.
Unfortunately, it seems that the GOP House might be dragging its feet in the wake of Secretary of State Rex Tillerson’s complaints about sanctions. The Hill reports:
Rep. Kevin Brady (R-Texas) said the legislation has been flagged by the House parliamentarian as a “blue slip” violation, referring to the constitutional requirement that revenue bills originate in the House.
“The House obviously will act to preserve the Constitution. Or the Senate can take the bill back, make the updates to it, and bring it back and move forward from that direction,” Brady told reporters on Tuesday.
This has all the makings of an excuse designed to assuage the White House without needing to vote against the bill they previously challenged. It will feed into the perception that the GOP is more interested in protecting Trump from Russia investigations than in protecting the country from Russia. “It has been five months since the intelligence community said Russia attacked our democracy and Paul Ryan and the House Republicans have done nothing,” notes former State Department official Max Bergmann. “Instead, of taking up the Senate’s bipartisan Russia sanctions legislation, Paul Ryan, who as a member of the gang of 8 has known about Russia’s interference for a year, is doing Putin’s bidding by blocking action in the House. Republican weakness in the face of Russian aggression only invites future attacks on America. They need to pass strong Russia sanctions right now.”
Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) blasted the Republicans. “Make no mistake about it – the ‘blue slip’ threat is nothing more than a procedural excuse by House Republicans who dredged it up it to cover for a president who has been far too soft on Russia,” he argued. “This administration has been far too eager to put sanctions relief on the table, that’s what this is about. Many people from one end of America to another have been asking, why? Just yesterday, the White House spokesman said that he had NEVER spoken to the President about Russia’s interference in our election.”
He warned, “The United States should not be afraid to engage with Russia, but we cannot look the other way, or worse yet, reward Putin after he directed an assault on our democratic institutions. That’s why the Senate passed this package of sanctions, sending a powerful message to President Trump that he should not lift sanctions on Russia. Responding to Russia’s assault on our democracy should be a bipartisan issue that unites both Democrats and Republicans in the House and in the Senate.” Schumer told House Republicans their “blue slip” excuse didn’t hold up to scrutiny.
Schumer is right, and Republicans from the president on down will look weak and indecisive, soft on Russia, if they don’t follow through promptly on sanctions. Moscow is watching intently.