Cory Booker Stands Up For Democracy: Russia Attack Is A “Paul Revere Moment” For America

New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker laid out just how critical it is for both parties to get behind an independent investigation into Russia’s inference – and possible collusion with Donald Trump’s campaign – in the 2016 presidential election, calling this a “Paul Revere moment” in U.S. history.

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“The Russians are attacking our country,” Booker told Chris Hayes on Wednesday night. “What they are doing right now is trying to use cyber attacks on this country, and we need to know what happened.”

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Booker said:

This is what I call a Paul Revere moment. We have the Russians are coming. In fact, the Russians are here. It’s not like the British armada. The Russians are attacking our country and they will come again. … It’s not a kinetic attack. We’re not seeing bombing happening here, but you have to understand we’re seeing this in eastern Europe, we saw it in France. What the Russians are trying to do is attack, undermine, through cyber means, the sanctity of a democracy, which is the electoral process. Western democracy – our democracy – relies upon fair elections, free and fair elections. And so the Russians, who can’t beat us tank for tank, they can’t beat us warship for warship, what they are doing right now is trying to use cyber attacks on this country, and we need to know what happened. 

The New Jersey senator and Democrats, in general, are smart to take politics out of this discussion and stress the importance of putting country before party. They may be Democrats opposed to Trump’s dangerous agenda, but the Russia investigation goes well beyond the realm of politics.

At the end of the day, there is nothing partisan about wanting to get to the bottom of, as Booker said, an attack on American democracy by the Russians – with the possible help of Trump’s presidential campaign.

If GOP leaders in Congress don’t step up and put country first, they aren’t just revealing themselves as partisan hacks, but they’re also undermining American democracy by ignoring an attack on the U.S. by a foreign government.

And, if Republicans don’t follow the lead of lawmakers like Cory Booker and recognize that this isn’t about political gamesmanship, they’ll soon realize that there is no such thing as partisan politics without a free and fair democracy.

Sean Colarossi

Sean Colarossi currently resides in Cleveland, Ohio. He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism from the University of Massachusetts Amherst and was an organizing fellow for both of President Obama’s presidential campaigns. He also worked with Planned Parenthood as an Affordable Care Act Outreach Organizer in 2014, helping northeast Ohio residents obtain health insurance coverage.