John McCain condemns attacks on FBI and DOJ: 'We are doing Putin's job for him'
2
February, 2018
- The White House approved the controversial memo from House Intelligence Committee chairman Devin Nunes for release on Friday.
- Moments later, Arizona Sen. John McCain condemned “partisan sideshows” that “undermine our own rule of law.”
GOP
Sen. John McCain condemned attacks on the integrity of the Department
of Justice and FBI on Friday, minutes after President
Donald Trump declassified the controversial memo from
House Intelligence Committee chairman Devin Nunes.
“In
2016, the Russian government engaged in an elaborate plot to
interfere in an American election and undermine our democracy. Russia
employed the same tactics it has used to influence elections around
the world, from France and Germany to Ukraine, Montenegro, and
beyond,” McCain said in a statement.
“Putin’s
regime launched cyberattacks and spread disinformation with the goal
of sowing chaos and weakening faith in our institutions. And while we
have no evidence that these efforts affected the outcome of our
election, I fear they succeeded in fuelling political discord and
dividing us from one another.”
The
statement continued: “The latest attacks on the FBI and Department
of Justice serve no American interests – no party’s, no
president’s, only Putin’s. The American people deserve to know
all of the facts surrounding Russia’s ongoing efforts to subvert
our democracy, which is why Special Counsel Mueller’s investigation
must proceed unimpeded.”
After
being approved by
the committee and now the White House, the memo was released publicly
later on Friday. Republican proponents of releasing the memo in full
said it would shed light on improprieties and unethical practices by
FBI and DOJ officials with regard to surveillance of former Trump
campaign officials.
But
McCain, who has not returned to the Senate since December while
undergoing treatment for brain cancer, insinuated the ongoing fight
over the memo’s declassification was purely political.
“Our
nation’s elected officials, including the president, must stop
looking at this investigation through the warped lens of politics and
manufacturing partisan sideshows,” the Arizona senator said. “If
we continue to undermine our own rule of law, we are doing Putin’s
job for him.”
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: only a member of this blog may post a comment.