US Republican leaders take questions from Arkansas residents

LITTLE ROCK — Two Republican leaders held a town-hall-style meeting in Arkansas to address various issues regarding the Trump administration, including President Donald Trump’s tax returns and bombing Syria.

The meeting hosted Monday by U.S. Sen. Tom Cotton and U.S. Rep. French Hill was similar to others being held by Republicans around the U.S. in recent months, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reported.

About 1,000 people attended, mostly opponents of the president, to voice their concerns and ask questions.

In response to Trump’s tax returns, Cotton and Hill said all federally elected officials have to file extensive financial disclosure forms. Trump is the first president in over 40 years to withhold such documents.

Cotton also agreed with Trump’s decision to bomb Syria after the chemical-weapon attack on its citizens, saying the president made the right call. He said Trump wants to adopt a “peace through strength” foreign policy.

In agreement with Cotton, Hill said America needs to be a leader to make the world safer.

Hill and Cotton also addressed questions regarding Russian meddling in the November election.

“The intelligence I have seen is more sensitive than anything I’ve seen in over two years on the Intelligence Committee,” Cotton said when asked if he would investigate Russian hacking as forcefully as he investigated the 2012 Benghazi attack. “That’s just the nature of this work. I hope that we can make as many of our conclusions public as possible.”

Cotton said he didn’t have a reason to doubt the intelligence community’s conclusion that Russians hacked internal emails of Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign and leaked them before the November election.