McCain says Helsinki summit 'should not move forward' unless Trump takes firm stand a

McCain says Helsinki summit 'should not move forward' unless Trump takes firm stand against Russian

By Paulina Dedaj | Fox News
1 hour ago

Senator John McCain, R-Ariz., has been a harsh critic of Trump, recently calling his visit at the NATO summit in Brussels “disappointing.”

Sen. John McCain said Friday that the U.S.-Russia summit in Helsinki “should not move forward” unless President Trump is willing to hold Russia accountable for political meddling. This, after 12 Russian intelligence officers were indicted for allegedly hacking emails from the Clinton campaign and the Democratic Party in the 2016 election.

The Republican senator from Arizona released a statement praising the charges, which arose out of Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation of Russian interference in the election.

The 12 members belonging to the Russian Intelligence agency are accused of hacking into emails from the Hillary campaign and her party, and of leaking damaging discussions between top party members.

“Today’s indictment is a result of the hard work of America’s law enforcement and intelligence officials who dedicate their lives to bringing to justice those who wish to do us harm,” McCain, who has been sidelined while battling cancer, said in a statement.

“These revelations add to a body of evidence confirming an extensive plot by Vladimir Putin’s government to attack the 2016 election, sow chaos and dissension among the American electorate, and undermine faith in our democracy.”

McCain has been a vocal critic of Trump, recently calling his visit to the NATO summit in Brussels “disappointing.”

While not expressing outright support for the meeting with Russia, which is to take place on Monday, McCain said Thursday that that summit represented an opportunity for Trump “to demonstrate his willingness to defend America” against its adversaries.

“Putin is not America’s friend. … Putin is America’s enemy,” McCain said.

Fox News contributor Allen West, Fox News political contributor Tammy Bruce and Democratic strategist Kevin Walling on how Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein announced that 12 Russian intel officers have been indicted for allegedly hacking the Democratic National Committee. The panel also discussed whether President Trump will discuss the indictments with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

He doubled down on that sentiment on Friday, urging Trump to hold the Russian president “accountable.”

“President Trump must be willing to confront Putin from a position of strength and demonstrate that there will be a serious price to pay for his ongoing aggression towards the United States and democracies around the world," the senator said. "If President Trump is not prepared to hold Putin accountable, the summit in Helsinki should not move forward.”

Trump and Putin will meet in their first official standalone meeting on Monday at the Presidential Palace in Finland. The pair have met twice before, on the sidelines of international meetings.

On Friday, several Democratic leaders also weighed in, in some instances urging the president to consider canceling his summit with Putin.

Sen. Mark Warner, top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, offered Trump an ultimatum for the highly anticipated summit: make Russian interference a priority, or cancel the meeting.

Fox News’ Alex Pappas and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2018...-meddling.html

It's so sad to see McCain still striving for relevancy. Senator McCain, you've been in the US Congress since 1983. 35 years. You've been outspoken with your ideas, you've been on the Armed Services Committee for years, you've been a candidate for President of the United States. And you have absolutely nothing to show for it. You're leaving this nation with 30 million and growing illegal aliens roaming our land, $800 billion a year in trade deficits, $22 trillion in national debt, a well-developed nuclear threat in North Korea, civil war in Syria, chaos in Libya, ISIS over-running Iraq and Syria, Al-Qaeda in Yemen and the Gulf States, Hezbollah in Palestine, over 14% poverty rates, the lowest most stagnant wages in US history, and a divided population over a political election.

Trump blows in and in less than 18 months, grows our GDP and stock markets to record levels, knocks free trade treason off its perch, takes on Mexico and Canada over NAFTA, Europe over the trade deficits, the EU and NATO, stimulates our economy even further with tax cuts, fixes two major elements of our health care problem, unites the Gulf States to attack Al Qaeda and ISIS, confines Al-Qaeda to a small section of Yemen, runs ISIS out of Iraq and Syria to their graves or executions, stops the massive refugee problem out of Syria, forges a path for a peace agreement with North Korea and is going to have a wonderful summit with the President of Russia.

What this President has already done should have shown you by now that he doesn't need your advice on anything. All he ever needed from you was a yes vote on the health care bill. And you betrayed our people in order to betray him.

So you've shown yourself to be who a lot of us thought you were to begin with, a big wind bag, all talk, no action. Have a nice weekend, enjoy your wonderful family and friends, and stop worrying about US. We're in good hands now.

So "disappointing" we have someone in the WH who is NOT ripping off the American taxpayers anymore.

McCain is America's enemy as are all Rhino's!