Senate Democrats Send Trump Reeling With Massive Effort To Expose Private Putin Meeting

Senate Democrats have launched a full-scale effort to find out exactly what was said at Trump’s private meeting with Putin.

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According to a list provided to PoliticusUSA by the Senate Democrats, here is a list of what they have done in the last 48 hours:

A list of the Senate Democrats’ actions is as follows:

National Security Democratic Senate Leaders Pen Letter to President Trump Demanding Details on Putin Summit [LINK]

Senator Shaheen Calls for Congressional Hearing with President Trump’s Helsinki Interpreter [LINK]

Senator Menendez Urges White House to Preserve Any and All Records from Helsinki Summit [LINK]

Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer has also outlined specific actions Senate Republicans can take immediately, including:

– Ratcheting up, not watering down, sanctions against Russia.

– Demanding that the Trump national security team that accompanied the president to the summit in Helsinki immediately testify in open Congressional hearings and release any notes of the one-on-one meeting – unedited. Senator Schumer noted that, while Secretary of State Pompeo testifying next week is a good start, in the interest of national security, we need to hear from the entire Trump national security team that was at Helsinki and the translator so we can learn the full extent of what happened behind closed doors.

– Taking actions to protect Special Counsel Mueller’s investigation – such as passing bipartisan legislation that was reported out of the Senate Judiciary Committee – and drop once and for all attacks and attempts to undermine the Russia probe.

– Demanding loudly and clearly that President Trump both release his tax returns and insist that Russians indicted by the Department of Justice be sent immediately to the United States to stand trial.

– Moving bipartisan election security legislation (like the Secure Elections Act and DETER Act) immediately to protect elections in 2018 and beyond.

Being in the minority, Senate Democrats are limited in what they can do, but they can effectively mobilize public support and keep the pressure on Trump. Democrats are pulling out all of the stops to confront this national security crisis. They aren’t standing by and waiting for Republicans to act, because we all know that Republicans aren’t going to act.

Democrats are making Trump’s Russia headache even worse, and if the president thinks that the sledding is rough now, imagine what it will be like if Democrats take back the Senate in November. Democrats are taking action, but the real action will come if they gain control of the Senate.

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Jason Easley

Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.

Awards and  Professional Memberships

Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association