Congressman Sires’ Statement Condemning Trump’s Meeting with Putin

(Washington, D.C.) –Today, Congressman Sires released the following statement condemning President Trump’s closed-doormeeting and press conference with Vladimir Putin that took place in Finland this morning:

“Just 3 days after 12 Russian agents were indicted for sustained efforts to influence the 2016 presidential elections, President Trump stood silently on stage as Vladimir Putin lied about the interference. To make matters worse, President Trump then had the audacity to blame America for not being friendly enough towards Putin.  It is completely unacceptable that Trump shows no interest in holding Putin accountable for the blatant and extensive Russian efforts to tamper with our democracy.

I am outraged that President Trump ignored his own intelligence agencies, legitimized Putin’s denial of involvement, and refused to name Putin as the dangerous adversary that he is.  President Trump is doing a disservice to Americans by not standing up for the country he is supposed to be leading.  Protecting the integrity of our electoral system must be a national priority for all those who value a representative democracy and President Trump should support a complete investigation into Russia’s role in interfering with the 2016 election.”

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