President Trump's plan "to move forward in working constructively with Russia" by "forming an impenetrable Cyber Security unit" with the Kremlin to secure American elections came under broad criticism Sunday after early slams from lawmakers on both sides of the aisle.
Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) joked in a CBS appearance that Russian President Vladimir Putin could be of "enormous assistance" in improving America's voting cybersecurity "since he is doing the hacking."
Fired U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara also responded with a joke, sarcastically tweeting that during his time at the Justice Department, "When pursuing a corrupt politician, mobster, or murderer on strong FBI evidence, if he 'vehemently denied it,' we just dropped it usually."
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Former Defense Secretary Ash Carter was more serious, suggesting on CNN that working with Russia on cybersecurity is like "the guy who robbed your house proposing a working group on burglary." And former CIA Director John Brennan appeared on NBC to castigate Trump for saying it was an "honor" to meet Putin in person. "An honor to meet the individual who carried out the assault against our election?" Brennan asked. "To me, it was a dishonorable thing to say."
-
Senate votes to kill Trump’s Brazil tariffSpeed Read Five Senate Republicans joined the Democrats in rebuking Trump’s import tax
-
Border Patrol gets scrutiny in court, gains power in ICESpeed Read Half of the new ICE directors are reportedly from DHS’s more aggressive Customs and Border Protection branch
-
Shutdown stalemate nears key pain pointsSpeed Read A federal employee union called for the Democrats to to stand down four weeks into the government standoff
-
Trump vows new tariffs on Canada over Reagan adspeed read The ad that offended the president has Ronald Reagan explaining why import taxes hurt the economy
-
NY attorney general asks public for ICE raid footageSpeed Read Rep. Dan Goldman claims ICE wrongly detained four US citizens in the Canal Street raid and held them for a whole day without charges
-
Trump’s huge ballroom to replace razed East WingSpeed Read The White House’s east wing is being torn down amid ballroom construction
-
Trump expands boat strikes to Pacific, killing 5 moreSpeed Read The US military destroyed two more alleged drug smuggling boats in international waters
-
Trump demands millions from his administrationSpeed Read The president has requested $230 million in compensation from the Justice Department for previous federal investigations
