Mitt Romney breaks with Republican senators, says there's no evidence suggesting Ukraine interfered in 2016 election


In what is becoming less and less of a surprise, Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) veered off course from his fellow Republicans on an impeachment-related issue.
Some lawmakers — Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) is a notable example (though he somewhat walked back his comments) — have given credence to the unsupported theory that Ukraine interfered with the 2016 election, which was one of the reasons President Trump wanted Kyiv to launch investigations. The intelligence community, on the other hand, has largely settled on the notion that it was Russia that tried to meddle.
The GOP's mistrust in the intelligence community likely stems from efforts to stick by Trump amid the impeachment inquiry, but Romney doesn't seem to care. He's not buying the theory and said he hasn't seen evidence "of any kind" to support it.
Subscribe to 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.
The recent comments add to growing speculation that Romney may be the leading voice among Republicans who are willing to remove Trump if the impeachment proceedings do eventually result in a Senate trial, though questions remain as to just how effective that would be. Tim O'Donnell
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Tim is a staff writer at The Week and has contributed to Bedford and Bowery and The New York Transatlantic. He is a graduate of Occidental College and NYU's journalism school. Tim enjoys writing about baseball, Europe, and extinct megafauna. He lives in New York City.
-
Trump taps Fox News' Pirro for DC attorney post
speed read The president has named Fox News host Jeanine Pirro to be the top federal prosecutor for Washington, replacing acting US Attorney Ed Martin
-
Trump, UK's Starmer outline first post-tariff deal
speed read President Donald Trump and British Prime Minister Kier Starmer struck a 'historic' agreement to eliminate some of the former's imposed tariffs
-
Fed leaves rates unchanged as Powell warns on tariffs
speed read The Federal Reserve says the risks of higher inflation and unemployment are increasing under Trump's tariffs
-
Denmark to grill US envoy on Greenland spying report
speed read The Trump administration ramped up spying on Greenland, says reporting by The Wall Street Journal
-
Supreme Court allows transgender troop ban
speed read The US Supreme Court will let the Trump administration begin executing its ban on transgender military service members
-
Hollywood confounded by Trump's film tariff idea
speed read President Trump proposed a '100% tariff' on movies 'produced in foreign lands'
-
Trump offers migrants $1,000 to 'self-deport'
speed read The Department of Homeland Security says undocumented immigrants can leave the US in a more 'dignified way'
-
Trump is not sure he must follow the Constitution
speed read When asked about due process for migrants in a TV interview, President Trump said he didn't know whether he had to uphold the Fifth Amendment