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West Virginia lawmakers support intelligence community following Trump comments

WASHINGTON — Members of West Virginia’s congressional delegation are standing behind the U.S. intelligence community after President Donald Trump rebuked the conclusion that Russia interfered in the 2016 presidential election.

Trump, in a joint press conference Monday with Russian President Vladimir Putin, threw doubt behind the intelligence community’s findings while seeming to take Putin at his word in regards to denying any interference.

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

U.S. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., said she trusts the intelligence community’s assessment of the previous presidential election.

“Preserving the integrity of our electoral system is critical to our democracy,” she said.

“Russia is an adversary of the United States, and we must continue efforts to hold them accountable,” she added.

Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va. — a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee — said Democrats and Republicans have seen evidence which points to Russian meddling.

“Let me be perfectly clear, the Russian government is not our friend,” he said. “They interfered in our 2016 election and their cyberattacks continue to this day. The brave men and women in our intelligence community have concluded this through a fact-based investigation.”

Manchin cited comments from Republican Sens. John McCain of Arizona, Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Bob Corker of Tennessee as evidence of bipartisan concern of Trump’s remarks.

McCain said Trump “failed to defend all that makes us who we are — a republic of free people dedicated to the cause of liberty at home and abroad;” Graham said on Twitter, “Russia did meddle in 2016 election & are trying it again;” and Corker said he was “very disappointed and saddened with the equivalency that [Trump] gave between them and what Putin was saying.”

“These are not political, partisan words — these are words of concerned elected officials united in the defense of our country, our intelligence community, and in agreement with the facts,” Manchin said. “It’s incumbent on any president to stand up to our adversaries and confront them when they attack our country. We fought and won the Cold War by never giving ground to the Soviet Union, and we need the same strength today.”

The Senate Intelligence Committee backed the intelligence community’s evaluation of the election earlier this month.

Rep. David McKinley, R-W.Va., also announced his support of the conclusion.

“I disagree with the president’s statement,” he said. “However, we should also weigh these poorly chosen words at a press conference against actions the Administration has taken against Russia, including imposing tough sanctions, expelling diplomats, and providing weapons to Ukraine.”

Trump has since backtracked from his comments, saying Tuesday he misspoke.

“I have felt very strongly that, while Russia’s actions had no impact at all on the outcome of the election, let me be totally clear in saying that … I accept our intelligence community’s conclusion that Russia’s meddling in the 2016 election took place,” the president said.

Reps. Alex Mooney, R-W.Va., and Evan Jenkins, R-W.Va., did not return a request for comment.

Manchin’s Senate campaign went after state Attorney General Patrick Morrisey, his Republican opponent, for not addressing the president’s original comments. Morrisey asked Axios when questioned if Manchin had released a statement on the issue.

“Pat Morrisey put his political party ahead of defending the brave Americans working in the U.S. intelligence agencies at home and abroad,” a Manchin campaign statement said. “Republicans from West Virginia joined Senator Joe Manchin in putting the country first and stood behind the U.S. intelligence community.”

Morrisey’s campaign did not return a comment request from MetroNews.

West Virginia Democratic Party Chairwoman Belinda Biafore said on Tuesday’s edition of MetroNews “Talkline” the party stands behind the intelligence community.

“When you’re the president, America has to come first,” she said. “With our party, America comes first, our intelligence resources come first and our veterans and armed forces always come first.”

Melody Potter — who was elected Saturday to a full term as chairwoman of the state Republican Party — said actions like sanctions are more influential than press conference remarks. She also took a moment to attack Democrats and Trump’s predecessor.

“We already know that Putin is not our friend,” she said. “Liberal Democrats and the liberals and no one said a thing when former President Barack Obama was whispering in Putin’s ear that I have more flexibility after the election.”

During a global nuclear summit in March 2012, Obama candidly told then-outgoing Russian President Dmitry Medvedev that he would have “more flexibility” for negotiations revolving around missile defense following that year’s presidential election. Putin succeeded Medvedev in May, although he served as president between 2000 and 2008.





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