Rep. Handel: 'Russia Is Not A Friend' To United States

WASHINGTON, D.C. — President Donald Trump's controversial press conference Monday with Russian President Vladimir Putin has sparked a wide variety of reactions among those on the left and the right of the political spectrum. One of the many elected officials weighing in on the press conference is U.S. Rep. Karen Handel of Georgia's 6th Congressional District, which covers North Fulton County and parts of DeKalb and East Cobb counties.

Handel on Monday posted two slightly different messages about the press conference that shocked many around the world. On her official House of Representatives website, Handel notes that Russia "is not our friend; Russia is not an ally."

"Based on U.S. intelligence community findings, as well as the findings of the House Intelligence Committee, it is abundantly clear that Russia did indeed interfere with the 2016 elections," she said in a statement. "Russia’s actions to undermine our democratic process and divide Americans must not be tolerated, and they must be held accountable.”

However, on a message posted to Handel's Facebook page and Twitter feed, the Congresswoman adds a partisan twist to her sentiments, contending that some citizens have yet to accept Donald Trump defeated Democrat Hillary Clinton to take the presidency.

"The House Intelligence Committee, as well as the American intelligence community, have concluded that Russia did interfere with our elections — something the Obama administration failed to stop ... a fact that some clearly want to ignore," she said on her page. "Still, there is NO evidence that Russia’s actions affected the outcome of the 2016 presidential election. Sadly, those who remain in denial of who actually won continue their efforts to delegitimize the election and the presidency. And as I have said repeatedly, Russia is not a friend of the United States, and they must be treated like the adversary that they are."

That exact message was also shared in a screenshot that was uploaded to Handel's Twitter account:

Patch reached out to Rep. Handel's office to ask why the U.S. representative's statements were written one way on the website and other way on her social media accounts.

Charlie Harper, a spokesperson for Rep. Handel, said the Congresswoman has both an official page and a campaign/personal page. Congressional ethics rule note that statements made in an official capacity "cannot be replicated on campaign materials/sites for 72 hours."

"As such, statements made on personal/campaign sites such as the Facebook/Twitter accounts you mention must be substantially different from the Congressional office to comply with House ethics rules," Harper said. "That said, the facts and sentiment of each statement are the same."

The White House is in damage-control mode Tuesday after Trump received bipartisan backlash after he said he trusts Putin's assertion that the Kremlin didn't meddle in the election. Senior administration officials want Trump to say unequivocally that he trusts U.S. intelligence officials and there won't be any U.S. effort to cooperate with Russia in the investigation, according to news reports.

"I have great confidence in my intelligence people," Trump said during the news conference. "But I will tell you that President Putin was extremely strong and powerful in his denial today."

During the news conference, Trump also welcomed an offer by Putin for Russian intelligence officials to assist the United States in special counsel Robert Mueller's indictment of 12 Russian military officials in the election tampering investigation.

"He offered to have the people working on the case come and work with their investigations with respect to the 12 people," Trump said. "I think that's an incredible offer."

Read more here: White House Doing Damage Control After Trump Backs Putin

Patch editor Beth Dalbey contributed to this report.

Image via Karen Handel