Even when asked directly about the Russians’ hack of U.S. political institutions, including the DNC and the DCCC, Donald Trump continued to compliment Vladmir Putin by touting his poll numbers and saying that he is going to have a “very, very good relationship” with Putin. Yesterday, an outlet whose publisher is Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law, directly accessed stolen documents from Guccifer 2.0, a hacker widely believed to be a Russian state actors. Good relationship, indeed.
Will Speaker Paul Ryan finally speak out against his campaign committee’s and his presidential nominee’s tacit approval of this cyberattack, and actions that help Russia cause chaos in U.S. elections? Ryan, like many other Republican leaders, has repeatedly spoken out in the past against foreign cyberattacks on our country, yet is nowhere to be found once this most recent breach had partisan political implications.
“Donald Trump wants to have a ‘very, very good relationship’ with a leader whose government is widely believed by experts to have perpetrated a cyberattack on political institutions in our country. This is who Paul Ryan wants to be our Commander-in-Chief, and like clockwork, he continues to put his Party’s standardbearer over our national security,” said Meredith Kelly of the DCCC.
Background on Speaker Ryan’s Positions on Russia Cyberattacks, before DCCC Hack:
- June 2016: Speaker Ryan’s “Better Way” agenda for House Republicans warned that “agents of foreign governments” are using cyber threats and called cyber defense a “top national security priority.” The agenda specifically cited cyber threats from Russian actors and declared “America cannot stand by passively” as these attacks continue.
- July 2016: Speaker Ryan’s spokesperson called Russia a “global menace” and warned Putin should “stay out of this election.”