Trump Accused Of Dereliction of Duty As Russia Scandal Gets More Dire For Republicans

Calling President Trump’s denial of Russian attack on our election “dismaying and objectionable,” former Ambassador Nicholas Burns said it’s the President’s duty to be skeptical of Russia and that his refusal to take action is “a dereliction of the basic duty to defend the country.”

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“I don’t believe any previous president would argue that your own hearings in the Senate are a waste of time, or a ‘witch hunt’, in the words of President Trump. They’re not (a witch hunt). You’re doing your duty that the people elected you to do. It’s his duty, President Trump’s, to be skeptical of Russia, it’s his duty to investigate and defend our country against a cyber offensive, because Russia is our most dangerous adversary. And if he continues to refuse to act, it is a dereliction of the basic duty to defend the country,” former President Bush 43 Nato Ambassador Nicholas Burns said during a Senate Select Intelligence Committee hearing on Wednesday.

Full clip here:

Trump denies that Russia attacked the U.S. election that he won. If he entertains the idea of accepting the unanimous conclusion of all 17 U.S. intel groups that Russia did interfere in the election on his behalf, he then blames former President Obama, Hillary Clinton or the Democrats.

What Trump does not do is move to protect the U.S from Russia.

Trump did not ask Comey about Russia’s attack; instead he focused on the more salacious parts of the Steele Dossier, getting Comey to say Trump was not under investigation personally, and pressuring Comey to drop the FBI investigation into Trump’s former National Security Adviser Mike Flynn.

The only pushback for the attack was implemented under former President Obama, and that was sanctions that Russia wants lifted and that the Trump team told Russia not to worry about at the time.

The Washington Post reported at the time the discussions were revealed after they had been denied, “Flynn’s communications with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak were interpreted by some senior U.S. officials as an inappropriate and potentially illegal signal to the Kremlin that it could expect a reprieve from sanctions that were being imposed by the Obama administration in late December to punish Russia for its alleged interference in the 2016 election.”

Former acting CIA directorJohn McLaughlin said of the attack on the U.S. by Russia, “You’ve got to restore some measure of deterrence. You hit ’em back, punish ’em in some ways, which I don’t think has been done by the last administration or this one. They are kind of on the offense, and we’re not pushing back.”

Former President Obama authorized the planting of digital bombs in Russian infrastructure during the final weeks of his presidency that President Trump could have chosen to deploy, but he has not. The project was not completed when the transition took place.

Why won’t Donald Trump act to protect the United States, as is his duty? Furthermore, why don’t Republicans care? Republicans are currently trying to undermine the Senate and House investigations into the Russian interference in our election.

The Russians are still attacking the U.S. and will interfere in our next election, experts warn, unless we stop them.

Sarah Jones

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Sarah has been credentialed to cover President Barack Obama, then VP Joe Biden, 2016 Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, and exclusively interviewed Speaker Nancy Pelosi multiple times and exclusively covered her first home appearance after the first impeachment of then President Donald Trump.

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