Rep. Hanabusa, Colleagues Urge Trump to Impose Sanctions on Russia

Congresswoman Colleen Hanabusa joined 139 of her colleagues on Monday, March 12, 2018, to urge President Donald Trump to impose sanctions against those behind Russia’s attacks on our election system.

The letter, led by House Foreign Affairs Committee Ranking Member Eliot L. Engel, pushes the president to use the bipartisan Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act, and underscores Trump’s inaction and denials in the face of findings offered by his own administration that Russia interfered in our 2016 elections and is targeting the current cycle.

Last month, 13 Russian citizens and three Russian companies were charged with engaging in a multi-million dollar operation designed to undermine and influence U.S. elections.

“The Trump Administration continues to ignore the evidence and warnings provided by U.S. intelligence that Russia and foreign actors are targeting our midterm elections with the same sophistication and strategy they employed to meddle in the 2016 election” said Rep. Hanabusa. “Unfortunately, Republicans on the House Intelligence Committee listened to their president and shut down the investigation into Trump’s ties to Russia and President Vladimir Putin. Last year, the Congress passed a bipartisan bill providing the administration with the tools to sanction Russia for their behavior but Trump refuses to act or acknowledge Russia as a threat. We must take action to protect the integrity of our elections and make it very clear that the United States will not sit idle while our democracy is attacked.”

From 140 members of Congress to President Trump:

“Your apparent refusal to hold Russia accountable for meddling in American democracy has allowed President Putin to operate with impunity. Our country has been left vulnerable to another Russian attack on our election system. The latest example—your unwillingness to impose any sanctions required by the bipartisan Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act—adds to a pattern by which you have ignored every tool available for responding to the attack on our democracy. We strongly urge you to reverse course, follow the letter and spirit of the law, and demonstrate that the security of our country and integrity of elections are sacrosanct.”