Tennessee Senator Bob Corker is voicing his “concerns” on the current relationship between the Trump administration and Russia in light of the shocking Helsinki press conference. Corker also serves as the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
“I understand why members would want to respond to what happened in Helsinki, and I think there’s concerns about just where the administration is with Russia,” Corker said to reporters Wednesday, according to Politico .
Corker is pushing for sanctions against the 12 Russian intelligence officials who hacked into Democratic National Committee computers during the 2016 presidential election. A pending proposal is also being pushed forward to sway the Trump administration to make these sanctions mandatory, as well as stricter repercussions for the Russian officials who interfered.
Maryland Senator Chris Van Hollen and Pennsylvania Senator Pat Toomey also wrote a letter to the White House urging Trump to act on the recent arrests.
Corker is also working with Idaho Senator Mike Crapo and are planning on addressing Russia’s relationship with the United States through hearings.
“We worked closely together to write the ‘Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act,’ which substantially expanded sanctions on Russia and overwhelmingly passed both the Senate and House last summer, and are eager to continue to important work being done by our committees to push back on Russia,” they said in an official announcement reported by Idaho Press .
Corker is not the only senator to voice concerns on the relationship between the Trump Administration and Russia in recent memory, and Marco Rubio came out to voice his fears as well on Face The Nation , Inquisitr reported.
Rubio is part of the Senate Intelligence Committee and urges the U.S. to prevent future attacks from Russian intelligence, citing that the discoveries made by Robert Mueller and the FBI are “100 percent accurate.” He referred to Trump’s statements at the summit press conference as a “bad moment” for the U.S.
He also cautions against Putin’s ulterior motives in maintaining a relationship with the U.S. He believes that Russian intelligence has learned from the DNC hacks and may interfere with U.S. elections in the coming years.
“It’s only productive if we understand who he is and what he wants,” Rubio said.
Trump initially denied the FBI findings at the press conference following the one-on-one meeting with Putin.
Top officials have been growing nervous since the White House announced that Russian president Vladimir Putin has been invited to Washington this fall.