Top Democrat: Obama Too Slow On Russia Hacking, But Trump Is ‘Sitting On His Hands’

Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), the ranking Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, called out both President Donald Trump and former President Barack Obama for not speaking out sooner about the investigation into hacking during the 2016 presidential election.

“At the time, we could get the Obama administration to acknowledge the Russian interference,” Schiff said Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union,” noting that the response was not “sufficient.”

“They were very wary to be seen as putting their hand on the scale of the election,” he added.

But he also said that doesn’t justify President Trump’s refusal to enact new sanctions against Russia last month.

“None of that is an excuse for this president to sit on his hands,” he said. “It is inexplicable for the president of the United States to sit on sanctions that Congress passed.”

“They can’t point the finger back when they’re sitting on sanctions that Congress on a very bipartisan basis imposed,” he added.

The CNN appearance aired two hours after Trump posted a series of morning tweets attacking Schiff and highlighting the congressman’s criticism of the previous president, which he first stated two days ago. In a signature taunt, he suggested that Schiff was casting blame on the Obama administration “as yet another excuse that the Democrats, lead by their fearless leader, Crooked Hillary Clinton, lost the 2016 election.”

Source: huffingtonpost