Texas Republicans join in criticizing Trump’s Russia remarks
WASHINGTON — Texas Republicans in Congress distanced themselves from President Donald Trump’s remarks questioning the consensus of U.S. intelligence agencies that Russia interfered in the 2016 presidential elections.
Trump’s comments came during a news conference Monday with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Helsinki, Finland, that was widely panned by diplomats and leaders in both parties.
Both GOP senators from Texas joined in the chorus of criticism directed at Trump’s apparent willingness to accept Putin’s denials.
“I don’t think we should be taking a former KGB colonel’s word for what their intelligence apparatus is doing or not doing,” Sen. John Cornyn told reporters. “I believe our intelligence community.”
Sen. Ted Cruz said on CNN, “I think it’s a mistake to be apologizing for Vladimir Putin.”
U.S. Rep. Will Hurd, a former CIA officer, suggested that Trump had been “played” by Putin.
Hurd, a San Antonio Republican facing a tough re-election battle against Democrat Gina Ortiz Jones, made his remark on Twitter: “I’ve seen Russian intelligence manipulate many people over my professional career and I never would have thought that the US President would become one of the ones getting played by old KGB hands.”
Other GOP House members from Texas were less biting.
“It is good that the president met with the ‘Napoleon of Siberia’ Putin,” Houston-area Republican Ted Poe said in a statement. “It is absolutely in the best interest of the United States to have open lines of communication. In the words of Winston Churchill, ‘to jaw-jaw is always better than to war-war.’ The president should have been more forceful in addressing Russian cyberwarfare and meddling in U.S. elections, Russian presence in Syria, support of Iran, and Russian aggression in Georgia, Crimea and eastern Ukraine.”
“The Russian bear is still in the woods and cannot be trusted,” Poe continued.
U.S. Rep. Mike McCaul, who is chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee and a senior member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, made clear he trusts the intelligence community.
“I continue to stand with the U.S. intelligence community’s assessment that Russia meddled in our 2016 presidential election,” said McCaul, whose district includes parts of Harris and all of Waller County. “Vladimir Putin’s long-standing goals are to undermine the credibility of our democracy and to sow discord among the American people.”
U.S. Rep. Bill Flores also weighed in in a statement: “The president should understand that Russia cannot be trusted and that it must be held accountable for its attempted election disruptions against our nation and against our allies.”
Texas House Speaker Joe Straus, R-San Antonio, has also jumped on the topic with a more forceful statement via Twitter.
“The president’s refusal to condemn Russia’s attack on our democracy gravely undermines our country & principles, & his posture toward Putin has unfortunately left us more vulnerable,” Straus tweeted. “This is about American security & the very foundation of our democracy, which must be protected.”