On Sunday morning, President Trump spoke of his new alliance with Russian President Vladimir Putin to erect an “impenetrable Cyber Security unit so that election hacking, & many other negative things, will be guarded.” This, the president tweeted at 7:31 a.m., came after Putin “vehemently denied” interfering with the 2016 U.S. election. The tweet’s timing could not have been more perfect — for congressional critics of Trump’s new plan. It gave them just enough of a head start to workshop one-liners and practice their comedic timing before the Sunday morning political talk shows. Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.) quipped on NBC’s “Meet the Press” that Trump’s plan was “not the dumbest idea I’ve ever heard, but it’s pretty close.” Graham called Trump “literally the only person I know of who doesn’t believe Russia attacked our election in 2016″ and said he was “dumbfounded.” Graham said Trump is “hurting his presidency by not embracing the fact that Putin is the bad guy.”
A quick primer: Many, many people and several U.S. government intelligence agencies have accused Putin and Russia of interfering in the 2016 election to help Trump.
A special counsel has been appointed to lead the Justice Department’s probe into the Trump campaign’s possible Russia ties. There’s also a criminal probe and congressional fact-finding investigations, all examining Russia.
Yet on Sunday, of the 193 countries Trump could have partnered with on cybersecurity, he chose Russia.
Full Article: Lawmakers blast Trump’s plan to work with Russia on cybersecurity – The Washington Post.