NM Dems assail Trump for siding with Putin

SANTA FE — New Mexico’s two Democratic senators slammed President Donald Trump on Monday for appearing at a joint news conference with Vladimir Putin and questioning the conclusion of U.S. intelligence agencies that say Russia meddled in the 2016 presidential election.

The lone Republican in New Mexico’s congressional delegation, U.S. Rep. Steve Pearce, issued a statement critical of Russia but didn’t mention Trump.

U.S. Sen. Tom Udall, a Democrat from Santa Fe and member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said the president “parroted Russian propaganda.” He called it “dangerous and unprecedented” and said Republican leaders in Congress should hold hearings when Trump returns to the United States.

“Politics are supposed to stop at the water’s edge,” Udall said, “and presidents of the United States are supposed to stand up for the United States. In a stunning moment in our history, President Trump went overseas and attacked the judgment and integrity of his own nation’s intelligence community while standing next to the leader of the government that attacked our democracy.”

Sen. Martin Heinrich, a Democrat from Albuquerque, said Trump had “literally sided with a former KGB agent and against our own intelligence services.”

“To my Republican colleagues,” he said, “now is the time to choose country over party or forever be remembered as complicit.”

Pearce, meanwhile, criticized Russia in a statement about the joint news conference.

“Over the last decade, we have seen Putin’s Russia become increasingly hostile to global stability and peace,” Pearce said. “From violating the rights of sovereign nations, to intervention and action in Syria, Russia is challenging stability around the world.

“Sanctions and international condemnation to date have not worked. America must stand with our allies against Russian aggression.”

Democratic Rep. Michelle Lujan Grisham said Trump “failed us today.”

“Instead of standing with the brave men and women of our intelligence community and our allies, Trump sided with a foreign adversary that nefariously interfered in our democratic presidential elections,” she said.

Democratic Rep. Ben Ray Luján said the president’s “refusal to hold President Putin accountable was shameful and embarrassing.”