Russian President Vladimir Putin is the “ringmaster” behind Moscow’s meddling in the 2016 U.S. presidential election, Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., said Sunday during an appearance on CNN’s “State of the Union.”
“Part of the reason for this indictment is to stigmatize those involved in interfering in our election. Putin is essentially an unindicted co-conspirator,” Schiff said, referring to special counsel Robert Mueller’s indictment Friday of 12 Russian intelligence officers in the hacking of Democrats during the 2016 election.
“And not just any co-conspirator,” Schiff told CNN’s Jake Tapper. “He’s the ringmaster of this conspiracy, and he’s going to be sitting down at the table with Donald Trump.”
Schiff, the ranking member of the House Intelligence Committee, last week called for Trump to cancel his summit with Putin Monday in Helsinki. The fact he isn’t, said Schiff, means “Trump is basically saying the indictment is just a witch hunt. And that’s a great gift for Vladimir Putin.”
“So, I think if Kim Jong Un can eat the president’s lunch, which I think he clearly did, it will be a very easy matter for Vladimir Putin,” he added.
Mark Warner, the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, heeded a similar warning and said he wasn’t confident Trump would make Russia’s interference “a top point of his agenda.”
“I’d feel a lot better if U.S. Ambassador [to Russia Jon] Huntsman, who I have a lot of confidence in, was actually sitting in on the meeting,” he said during an interview on NBC News’ “Meet the Press.”
“I'm very concerned about a one-on-one meeting between Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump,” Warner said. “We know that Trump doesn't do a lot of prep work for these meetings. He kind of goes in and wings it.”
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