‘The Idea That Russia Hacked Our Election Is Not Open to Debate Anymore’
Democratic U.S. Congressman Jim Himes of Connecticut, unlike many Democrats who have been strangely quiet since Friday night’s news that the CIA told top House and Senate lawmakers Russia intervened in the election to help Donald Trump win, has been very vocal in his response.Â
In response to a tweet from Donald Trump Sunday, Himes on Twitter called the president-elect “completely unhinged” implying the Electoral College should choose Hillary Clinton instead.
Himes also slammed Trump for “attacking the CIA & defending the Russians. Attacking media and ignoring the PDB,” referring to Trump’s refusal to attend national security presidential daily briefings. (He also managed to work in a Yates quote.)
On CNN’s “New Day” Monday morning Himes said “it is fact” that Russia hacked the election, adding that “this is not a fact that is in dispute by any of our 17 intelligence agencies.”
Himes, who sits on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, added, “I’ve been in the room, as have my colleagues. There is one person who believes this is still in dispute, that this is some kind of bizarre Democratic plot, and that’s of course the president-elect Donald Trump.”
The Connecticut Congressman, a Harvard graduate and a Rhodes Scholar, added, “there is no uncertainty but that Russia was hacking this election.”
He also took House Speaker Paul Ryan, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, and former RNC Chair and incoming Trump White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus for giving Trump cover and “enabling” Trump’s insistence Russia was not involved.
Himes also went on a bit of a Twitter rant after his CNN appearance Monday:Â
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