Jake Tapper Presses Dem Senator on Russian Meddling: Seems Obvious Obama Didn’t Do Enough
President Donald Trump has defended his administration against criticism over election meddling at the hands of Russians, claiming the his predecessor didn’t do enough to stop it. CNN’s Jake Tapper pressed Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA) on that exact point, suggesting it was clear President Barack Obama was too lax in his approach to reports of hacking during his tenure.
“Obviously the Russians are responsible for Russian actions,” Tapper said this morning. “But looking at the indictment and everything we know now about the Russian election interference, in retrospect, shouldn’t President Obama and his administration have done much more?”
At first, Warner skirted around the question, noting that the intelligence Committee would “lay out what the Obama Administration and FBI should have done or shouldn’t have done shortly.”
However, Tapper pushed him on the matter, stating, “President Obama did not do enough to stop this while it was going on in 2016. I think that seems obvious to anybody reading the indictments or reading the newspaper for the last two years. Do you disagree?”
“I think the FBI could have done more,” Warner said.
But he added, “[As] a matter of fact, when the October 7th letter came out [in which] the Obama administration did point out the threat of Russian interference, strangely enough it was the exact same day that both the Podesta e-mails were hacked and released, and it was the same day of the famous so-called Bush Hollywood tapes.”
While election meddling is set to be a topic of discussion for Trump’s Helsinki summit with Putin, Warner expressed concern over whether the issue would be put on the table in a meaningful way.
“We need other individuals from his administration in the room so we know that at least someone will press the Russians on making sure they don’t interfere in future U.S. elections,” the senator said.
Watch the clip above via CNN.
[Image via screengrab]
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