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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsGOP Senators Tell Contradictory Stories About Moscow Trip
A key Republican came back from the Kremlin seemingly shrugging off Russian aggression. His colleagues are confused as hell by his talk. Inside a controversial mission to Moscow.
ANDREW DESIDERIO
07.10.18 2:33 PM ET
A top Republican senator shocked his colleagues when he suggested, after returning from a trip to Moscow with fellow GOP lawmakers, that U.S. sanctions targeting Russia were not working and the Kremlins election interference was really no big deal.
Now, the senators who joined him for the series of meetings with senior Russian officials are sharply disputing not only Sen. Ron Johnsons (R-WI) conclusionsbut also his account of what went on behind closed doors in Moscow.
I think the sanctions are hurting them badly both in terms of their pocketbooks and in terms of their status in the world, Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA), who joined the congressional delegation last week, said in an interview. I dont want to over-state this, but these were very tense meetings.
In public, the American lawmakers directly appealed to Russia for a better relationship. But in private, according to the senators who attended the meetings, they confronted their Russian counterparts over a host of issues, most notably Moscows interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election.
Thats why Johnson raised eyebrows when, after returning from the nine-day trip with five of his fellow GOP senators, he suggested that the U.S. should evaluate whether the sanctions currently in place are successfully harming Russian interests because you'd be hard-pressed to say that sanctions against Russia are really working all that well. He also appeared to downplay the significance of election interference, saying it was not the greatest threat to our democracy and weve blown it way out of proportion.
His colleagues, who attended the same meetings with Russian lawmakers and Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, had a different impression. Sen. Richard Shelby (R-AL), who led the congressional delegation, said in an interview that he and his colleagues told their Russian counterparts that the worst thing you can do is try to meddle in our elections. The senators differed on the effectiveness of sanctions, too.
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https://www.thedailybeast.com/gop-senators-tell-contradictory-stories-about-moscow-trip?ref=home
Guy Whitey Corngood
(26,482 posts)exboyfil
(17,857 posts)no_hypocrisy
(45,772 posts)Keep talking Ralph . . . . .
Wellstone ruled
(34,661 posts)just don't get caught this time around.
gratuitous
(82,849 posts)No, this isn't the set-up for a joke, it's what actually happened in 2018. They'd rather be in Moscow on Independence Day than in the United States, and when they come back, they moan about the terrible effect our sanctions are having on Russia.
I remember when Republicans used to be all kinds of concerned about elected officials being perceived as too close to Moscow.
The Genealogist
(4,723 posts)lagomorph777
(30,613 posts)4th of July was not picked by coincidence.
lagomorph777
(30,613 posts)The contradictory stories make it extremely clear that they are hiding something.