HELSINKI, Finland — President Donald Trump’s summit with Russian dictator Vladimir Putin is not playing well back at home.
The President met for nearly two hours with Putin on Monday as part of a long-awaited summit. He countered US intelligence officials who have said for years Russia worked overtime to interfere with the 2016 elections.
Reaction was quick from Congress, ranging from disappointment to calls for impeachment, and much of the Kansas delegation was sharply critical of the Helsinki summit’s results. Calling Russia’s behavior “duplicitous” and saying Putin is “not our friend,” Kansas Sen. Jerry Moran said the President “missed an opportunity to publicly condemn Russia for election interference or offer strong support for the NATO alliance.”
Fellow Kansas Sen. Pat Roberts, meanwhile, tweeted that Russia is still a national security threat, adding “Our Intelligence Community has proven Russia attempted to interfere with our elections. We have to remain vigilant when dealing with this dangerous adversary.”
Congressman Roger Marshall has not offered a comment as of yet.
The summit came just days after the US Department of Justice indicted a dozen Russians for their alleged involvement in election tampering two years ago by hacking into email servers and computer networks for the Democratic National Committee, Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and Hilary Clinton’s presidential campaign against Trump.
