Sen. Rand Paul came home from a trip to Russia and called on Trump to lift sanctions on Russian lawmakers so that they can travel to the US.
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Paul told Fox News that he wants the sanctions lifted so that Russians can come to the US for meetings, “They have two houses in their parliament, one called the Federation, like our Senate, and then the lower body the Duma. They have both agreed to come to Washington in the fall for further meetings. That is a good thing. The downside is, the chairman of each of the committees is banned from coming to the United States because of sanctions. One of the things I’m going to ask the president, I will talk to the president this weekend, is I’m going to say why don’t we take people off the list that are in the legislature.”
The people who are leading the attack on the United States are at the highest levels of Putin’s government. There is a reason why there are sanctions on members of the Russian legislature. The sanctions date back to Russia’s annexing of Crimea and destabilization of Ukraine in 2014, and they were strengthed after their 2016 attack on the presidential election.
What Putin wants more than anything is for Trump and the Republicans to lift the sanctions.
The steady march of Republican members of Congress to Russia should be troubling to every voter. What Rand Paul is calling for is a weakening of US sanctions against Russia. It is exactly what Putin wants, and Sen. Paul’s comments aren’t a symbol of peace and cooperation, but a symbol of the depth of Putin’s takeover of the Republican Party under Trump.
The Russia problem is more significant than Trump. The Republican Party appears to be selling itself out to Russia right before our eyes.
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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
