- The Washington Times - Thursday, January 11, 2018

A report published by Democratic U.S. lawmakers accusing Moscow of election meddling could damage bilateral relations between the countries and makes America look bad, according to Russia’s top officials.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Thursday that Russia rejects any accusations of election meddling in the 2016 U.S. presidential election and lamented that such allegations were still being made.

“With regards to this [anti-Russian] campaign, all we can do is express our regret and repeat that these accusations remain unfounded,” Mr. Peskov said during a conference call with journalists.

On Wednesday, U.S. Senate Democrats hammered President Trump in a report claiming his administration “has largely ignored” the ongoing threat of Russian meddling designed to undermine democracies across the Western world.

The report, commissioned by Sen. Ben Cardin, the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, chronicles Russian meddling activities in more than a dozen nations and condemns the Trump administration for proposing “cuts to assistance across Europe that could help counter the Kremlin’s malign influence, especially in the areas of good governance, anti-corruption and independent media efforts.”

“President Trump is squandering an opportunity to lead America’s allies and partners to build a collective defense against the Kremlin’s global assault on democratic institutions and values,” the report said.

Several Democratic lawmakers have spent much of the past year pushing a narrative that Trump presidential campaign may have “colluded” with Russian operatives meddling in the 2016 poll.

The Kremlin repeatedly denies allegations that Moscow interferes in any foreign elections.

The White House also flatly rejects the notion and did so again Wednesday.

“The single greatest Witch Hunt in American history continues. There was no collusion, everybody including the Dems knows there was no collusion, & yet on and on it goes,” Mr. Trump tweeted. “Russia & the world is laughing at the stupidity they are witnessing. Republicans should finally take control!”

• Dan Boylan can be reached at dboylan@washingtontimes.com.

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