Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer said Monday that Republican senators are “disgracefully” spreading Russian propaganda and lies to defend President Trump.
The New York Democrat deliberately did not name the Republican senators he alleged were spreading Russian propaganda and lies, only saying, “They know who they are.”
“While the House investigation continues in search of the facts, certain Senate Republicans have increasingly made outlandish claims, including the assertion that Ukraine might have been involved in interfering in the 2016 election,” Mr. Schumer said on the Senate floor. “The charge that Ukraine had something to do with election meddling in 2016 is a lie spread by [Russian President] Vladimir Putin to get things off his back. … And now, disgracefully, we have sitting U.S. Senators helping to spread that Russian propaganda in an effort to defend the president.”
Mr. Schumer previewed the House Judiciary Committee’s upcoming impeachment proceedings by arguing that House Democrats were behaving in a “deliberate, studious, and sober-minded manner” in stark contrast to Republicans.
Senate Republicans have mocked the ongoing impeachment proceedings. Sen. John Kennedy of Louisiana told NBC on Sunday that the impeachment inquiry of Mr. Trump was “as rigged as a carnival ring toss.”
The White House has refused to participate in the House Judiciary Committee’s impeachment proceedings later this week. White House Counsel Pat Cipollone penned a letter explaining the decision to ignore the committee and panned the upcoming hearings as “baseless” and “partisan.”
• Ryan Lovelace can be reached at rlovelace@washingtontimes.com.
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