Schumer calls on Trump admin to sanction Russia over election meddling
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer is calling on Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin to impose sanctions on Russia amid concerns that the country is again meddling in U.S. presidential elections.
"We urge you to immediately and forcefully impose sanctions on the government of the Russian Federation, any Russian actors determined to be responsible for such interference, and those acting on their behalf or providing material or financial support for these election interference efforts," wrote Schumer, Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.), the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio.), the top Democrat on the Senate Banking Committee.
The letter, obtained by POLITICO, lists several sanction tools the administration could impose, including the 2017 Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act, which imposed new sanctions on Russia, North Korea and Iran. Senate Democrats argue that imposing sanctions would send a clear message to Russian President Vladimir Putin that election interference will not be tolerated.
Their letter comes after the New York Times and the Washington Post reported last week that a senior intelligence official briefed the House Intelligence Committee that Russia was interfering in the 2020 election with the goal of getting Trump re-elected. The president, who has repeatedly questioned the assessment of America’s intelligence community, reportedly responded to the briefing in anger.
Last week, Trump named Richard Grenell, the current U.S. ambassador to Germany and a close ally, as acting director of national intelligence. He is replacing Joseph Maguire, who was ousted after the House briefing.
"There is virtually no national security threat more serious than that posed by those who would systematically undermine confidence in, and the effective operation of, our democratic elections," the lawmakers wrote. They added that failing to impose sanctions "would be an abdication of your responsibility to protect and defend the US from this serious threat to our national security, and to the integrity of our electoral process."
