Nancy Pelosi said Russia still poses the biggest threat to election interference as she claimed Sunday Moscow is spending all day, everyday in efforts to hurt Joe Biden's chances of getting elected.
'Russia is actively, 24/7 interfering in our election,' Pelosi told CNN's State of the Union Sunday morning.
'They did so in 2016, and they are doing so now,' the House Speaker continued. 'The American people, I believe, they should decide who the President of the United States is. Not Vladimir Putin making that decision for us.'
Despite Pelosi's assurance that Russia is the biggest threat to U.S. elections, National Security Advisor Robert O'Brien said Sunday that the government has maxed out on its ability to sanction Russia to defer them from interfering in November.
'There's almost nothing we can sanction left of the Russians,' O'Brien told CBS News' Face the Nation Sunday morning in his first interview since being diagnosed with coronavirus. 'We've put so many sanctions on the Russians that, by the way, that the prior administration didn't do. We've sanctioned the heck out of Russians, individuals, companies, government.'
'We've kicked out literally scores of Russian spies. We've closed down all their consulates on the West Coast. We've closed down diplomatic facilities,' O'Brien said in listing actions the U.S. has taken against the Kremlin.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Sunday that Russia still poses the biggest threat to election interference even over new concerns with China and Iran meddling
'Russia is actively, 24/7 interfering in our election,' Pelosi told CNN's State of the Union Sunday morning. 'The American people, I believe, they should decide who the President of the United States is. Not Vladimir Putin making that decision for us'
National Security Advisor Robert O'Brien said Sunday that there is nothing left the U.S. can sanction Russia over to defer them from interfering in November. 'There's not a lot left we can do with the Russians,' he said. 'But nevertheless we continue to message the Russians and President Trump continues to message the Russians: Don't get involved in our elections.'
'There's not a lot left we can do with the Russians,' he reiterated. 'But nevertheless we continue to message the Russians and President Trump continues to message the Russians: Don't get involved in our elections.'
O'Brien urged that the same message goes for China and Iran as well, claiming if any of the three nations attempt to interfere in the 2020 presidential election they will be met with 'severe consequences.'
Pelosi, however, asserted the threat from China is nowhere near as bad as the one from Russia.
'I take second place to no one on my criticism of China for over 30 years,' Pelosi told CNN. 'What they said is China would prefer Joe Biden. Whether they do, that's their — that they would prefer Joe Biden.'
The California Democrat is referring to a counterintelligence statement on Friday that revealed China wants the presumed Democratic nominee to win in November over Trump. It also said Iran wants Biden to win.
The statement from top counterintelligence official William Evanina revealed that Russia is 'using a range of measures' in order to 'denigrate' Biden since they prefer if Trump would win reelection.
Russia infamously interfered in the 2016 election leading to a range of investigations into the meddling and who was involved or knew.
Earlier this summer, FBI Director Christopher Wray warned that China is also trying to impact the results in November and has increased its capabilities to interfere in U.S. elections.
Post a Comment