Sen. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut affirmed bipartisan support in Congress to crack down on Russian cyber espionage Monday, as President Trump meets with Russian President Putin in Helsinki.
During an interview on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” Mr. Blumenthal, a Democrat, warned that Russia’s cyberattacks were a threat to democracy as a whole.
“We are facing a continuing act of war by Vladimir Putin,” he said, “[Putin] will stop at nothing to destroy Western democracies.”
The senator emphasized the need for allies to “rally together” in light of this threat and emphasized that the Senate will continue showing support for NATO.
Mr. Blumenthal explained that Congress’ next step would be to “persuade or compel” Mr. Trump to address the issue of Russian meddling in the sovereign affairs of other nations.
He also said that lawmakers need to work together to push back Russian aggression.
The senator said there was bipartisan support for “going on the offense” and cracking down on Russian officials by revealing assets, corruption and increasing sanctions.
“We need to hit back hard and make the Russians pay,” Mr. Blumenthal said.
He also explained that Congress needs to define cyber warfare and what constitutes a cyberattack.
On Friday, the Justice Department indicted 12 Russians for hacking the DNC in an attempt to influence the U.S. presidential election.
After the news broke, Mr. Blumenthal was among the Democrats calling for the president to cancel the Helsinki summit.
On Monday, the Democratic senator reframed his argument and said Mr. Trump should walk out if Mr. Putin refuses to extradite the 12 Russian officials.
• Gabriella Muñoz can be reached at gmunoz@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.