Russian Lawmaker: America’s Spies Slept While Russia Elected a US President

Questions US Power

A Russian lawmaker and political scientist says the Russian Federation elected the U.S. president while America’s spies slept. 

Russian politician Vyacheslav Nikonov on Sunday said U.S. “intelligence missed it when Russian intelligence stole the president of the United States,” according to The Hill, which cites Russian media monitor and investigative reporter Julia Davis. Presumably, Nikonov meant the “presidency” of the U.S.

Davis posted this to Twitter, and the video:

NCRM has not confirmed the translation, but Axios also reported the story, citing The Hill’s report.

“His point in making the remark was that if the U.S. can’t protect the integrity of its own electoral system, then how powerful can it really be?” University of Virginia professor Allen Lynch told The Hill in an email. 

“The focus of the episode was the decline of U.S. power in the world,” The Hill explained. “Nikonov was less stating the extent of Russia’s involvement in the 2016 election, and more mocking the resulting chaos as emblematic of U.S. weakness.”

Nikonov made his remarks on the Russian television talk show “Sunday Evening with Vladimir Solovyov.”

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