Texoma senators react to Trump-Putin summit
Both Oklahoma senators and Texas Sen. John Cornyn are speaking out in the wake of President Trump's closed-door meeting with Russian Federation President Vladimir Putin on Monday and the joint news conference that followed.
Trump defended his performance at the Helsinki summit in a tweet Tuesday, accusing the "Fake News" of "going Crazy" after the U.S. president publicly accepted denials from Putin that Russia had interfered with the 2016 presidential election.
Standing just a few feet from his Russian counterpart Monday, Trump also questioned U.S. intelligence agencies that have unanimously agreed there was Kremlin meddling.
Sen. James Lankford (R-Oklahoma) took issue with Trump's conclusion.
“I trust the assessments from [Director of National Intelligence] Dan Coats and [CIA Director] Gina Haspel and their Intelligence teams more than I trust a former KGB agent, Vladimir Putin," Lankford said in a written statement. "It is a fact that Russian entities hacked US presidential campaign accounts, launched cyber-attacks against at least 21 states, attacked US voting system software companies, and engaged in social media misinformation campaigns during the 2016 campaign."
Lankford, a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, added that the United States should "unequivocally denounce Russia’s election interference activities and human rights offenses around the world."
The state's senior Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-Oklahoma), who is a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, offered a milder rebuke of the president's high-stakes summit.
"I hope that President Trump was clear with Vladimir Putin – his history of electoral abuses, human rights offenses, aggression across Eastern Europe and support of Bashar al-Assad’s regime in Syria are unacceptable," Inhofe said in a written statement. "I look forward to continue to work with President Trump as we counter Russia’s influence around the world through tough sanctions and supporting pro-Western forces in Ukraine."
Sen. John Cornyn of Texas said there may be additional sanctions on Russia in the upheaval following the Trump-Putin summit. The No. 2 Senate Republican told reporters that sanctions might draw bipartisan support because Democrats have also backed the idea.
"We could find common ground to turn the screws on Russia," Cornyn said.
Cornyn suggested sanctions legislation as an alternative to plans for a resolution supporting the intelligence community's findings that Russia interfered in the 2016 election.
A resolution -- as some in the House are suggesting -- is "just some messaging exercise," Cornyn added.
KTEN has requested comments from Texas Sen. Ted Cruz.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.