Tipsheet

Dem Congressman Claims Trump's Response to Russia Investigation Has 'Markings of Watergate'

Lauretta Brown
Lauretta Brown  |  March 01, 2018 7:30 AM

Rep. Ted Lieu (D-CA) claimed Wednesday that President Trump’s response to the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election “has all the markings of Watergate.”

"This has all the markings of Watergate where you have a person acting not only to obstruct an investigation but also taking actions that are inconsistent with what an innocent person would do," Lieu told MSNBC.

"As we sit here today the president still has not imposed bipartisan congressional sanctions on Russia,” he continued. “He still has refused to condemn the Kremlin or Vladimir Putin for their attack on American elections in 2016, and he still has refused to order the NSA or FBI to stop an attack in the future."

U.S. Cyber Command chief Admiral Michael Rogers, who heads the NSA, told the Senate Armed Services Committee Tuesday that little is being done to specifically combat Russian election interference.

“What I see on the Cyber Command side leads me to believe that if we don’t change the dynamic here, that this is going to continue, and 2016 won’t be viewed as isolated,” he testified. “This is something that will be sustained over time.”

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Rogers said hasn't “been granted any, you know, additional authorities, capacity and capability” to combat Russian interference.

During Tuesday’s White House press briefing, press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said of Rogers that “nobody is denying him the authority.”

“The president is looking at all of the different causes and all of the different ways that we can prevent it,” Sanders said. “And as we find different ways that we can do that, we’re implementing them.”

Rep. Lieu has frequently criticized President Trump’s response to the Russia investigation in the past and implied collusion on the part of the Trump campaign. Last week he wondered if “someone from Russia’s Internet Research Agency” was writing Trump’s tweets.