Republicans are trying to advance the argument that Sessions was just doing his job when he met with the Russian ambassador twice during 2016, but it turns out he was the only member of the 2016 Armed Services Committee to do so.
Adam Entous, who broke the story about Sessions’s meeting with the ambassador as part of the Washington Post’s national security team, just put the kill shot in the Republican talking point that Sessions was just doing his job when he met twice with the Russian ambassador.
The team “reached out to all 26 members of the 2016 Armed Services Committee to see who met with Russian envoy Kislyak in 2016. Sessions was the only one.”
We reached all 26 members of the 2016 Armed Services Committee to see who met with Russian envoy Kislyak in 2016. Sessions was the only one.
— Adam Entous (@adamentous) March 2, 2017
There were two meetings, one of which took place in Sessions’ Senate office. It’s unclear if this meeting took place over the phone or in person, but the point is that private meetings like that are not what Republicans are referencing when they say meetings with ambassadors are part of the job.
Senator Ted Cruz gave a go at the Republican talking point, blaming Democrats for the “political circus” because they opposed Sessions due to his previously disqualifying even for Republicans racism.
Ted Cruz says Sessions is facing a "political circus." He also says he personally met with six ambassadors in January and February. pic.twitter.com/3Xtu88xqr4
— Eric Bradner (@ericbradner) March 2, 2017
Since racism isn’t a problem for modern Republicans, it’s not likely that traitorous behavior or lying about it is problematic for the GOP.
The concern over Russia’s interference in the U.S. election is a made up political circus. Just because Republicans don’t care about the security and sovereignty of our country doesn’t mean that this is a partisan issue. In fact, multiple European intelligence agencies have evidence of meetings between the Trump campaign and Russian officials in Europe. They collected that information not because they are U.S. Democrats, but because…
It is an international issue of great concern.
All hail Republicans for claiming that lying about meetings with the ambassador to the country that is interfering in the U.S. election is just “part of their job”.
However, this does bring up a pertinent question. Just what exactly do Republicans think their job is, and to which country would they say they are most strongly aligned.
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.
Sarah is two-time Telly award winning video producer and a member of the Society of Professional Journalists.
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