MacArthur Pans Trump's Russia Remarks

U.S. Rep. Tom MacArthur pushed back against President Donald Trump's controversial statements on Russia, saying he takes issue with the president's statements and said the United States must stand strong against Russia and its president, Vladimir Putin.

MacArthur, who respresents New Jersey's Third District, which includes portions of Ocean and Burlington counties, criticized Trump's remarks that followed the president's one-on-one summit with Putin in Helsinki, Finland Monday.

"I take issue with President Trump blaming the state of our relationship (with Russia) on our supposed 'foolishness and stupidity,' " MacArthur said in an emailed statement. "Our relationship with Russia is strained because of Vladimir Putin’s actions. He has invaded his neighbors, attacked America’s allies, and interfered with our elections and the elections of our closest allies."

Trump, in his remarks in Helsinki, sided with Putin and denied the Russians were responsible for meddling in the 2016 election, despite that conclusion from U.S. intelligence agencies.

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

MacArthur rejected that.

"The United States, especially the President, should take any foreign government’s attempt to influence election results as a threat to our democracy itself," he said, citing the indictments last week of 12 Russian intelligence officers in connection with meddling in the 2016 election.

"Clean and fair elections are the bedrock of our more than 200-year-old democracy," MacArthur said.

"Putin is a corrupt, murderous thug and cannot be trusted," MacArthur said. "He is a threat to global security, and we need to remind our friends and our foes that the United States stands strongly opposed to this autocratic kleptocrat."

The statement, issued Monday not long after Trump's remarks hit the airwaves, was a rare shift for the Republican, who has voted in favor of a number of policies Trump has pushed, including the federal tax reform legislation and legislation to dismantle key portions of the Affordable Care Act. Those were issues where MacArthur was the lone Republican from New Jersey supporting the legislation.

Trump's comments on the election meddling and his willingness to publicly excuse Putin on a international stage drew widespread outrage from other members of the Republican party.

Republican Sen. John McCain of Arizona — a longtime Trump critic — called the president's comments disgraceful.

"Today's press conference in Helsinki was one of the most disgraceful performances by an American president in memory," McCain said Monday. "The damage inflicted by President Trump's naiveté, egotism, false equivalence, and sympathy for autocrats is difficult to calculate. But it is clear that the summit in Helsinki was a tragic mistake."

The White House was in damage-control mode Tuesday. Trump was scheduled to meet with members of Congress.

Intelligence director Dan Coats, who issued a strongly worded statement that Russia did interfere in the election, reaffirmed his commitment to "provide unvarnished and objective intelligence in support of our national security."

"The role of the Intelligence Community is to provide the best information and fact-based assessments possible for the President and policymakers. We have been clear in our assessments of Russian meddling in the 2016 election and their ongoing, pervasive efforts to undermine our democracy, and we will continue to provide unvarnished and objective intelligence in support of our national security," Coats said in the statement.

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