Jeff Flake Accuses Trump Of ‘Giving Aid And Comfort To An Enemy’ In Response To The Helsinki Summit
Arizona Republican Sen. Jeff Flake took to the Senate floor to accuse President Trump of “giving aid and comfort to an enemy,” in response to his press conference with Vladimir Putin following the Helsinki summit.
The day before taking to the Senate floor to criticize Trump, Flake joined Democratic Delaware Sen. Chris Coons to introduce a bipartisan resolution supporting U.S. intelligence agencies concluded that Russia interfered with the 2016 Presidential election, according to the NY Post.
Flake is calling for unanimous Senate support arguing that Russia’s meddling is an attack on both Democrats and Republicans.
Although Trump seemingly reversed his stance on taking Putin’s word over the U.S intelligence community earlier this week, the US President defiantly took to Twitter to slam his critics following the prepared remarks.
Donald Trump backtracked his support of Vladimir Putin’s denial of Russia’s meddling, claiming that he misspoke.
During his speech on the Senate floor, Jeff Flake criticized Trump’s refusal to challenge Putin’s denials and questioned why the President would ignore his own intelligence agencies finding, via Raw Story.
“The findings of our intelligence community regarding the Russian aggression are not matters of opinion, no matter how powerful and strong Putin’s denial. To reject these findings and to reject the excruciating specific indictment against the 12 named Russian operatives in deference to the word of a KGB apparatchik is an act of will on the part of the president and that choice leaves us contemplating the dark mystery, ‘Why did he do that? What would compel our president to do such a thing?'”
What a moron@JeffFlake takes to Senate floor to suggest Trump committed TREASON by giving 'aid and comfort' to 'enemy' Russia https://t.co/3Db9mp4vSC via @MailOnline
— Jewhadi™ (@JewhadiTM) July 19, 2018
Jeff Flake continued his Senate speech where he seemingly accused President trump of committing treason.
“The president let down the free world by giving aid and comfort to an enemy of democracy. In so doing, he dimmed the light of freedom ever so slightly in our own country.”
Jeff Flake: "We saw earlier this week in Helsinki what was truly an Orwellian moment. What we saw … is what happens when you wage war on objective reality for nearly two solid years, calling real things fake and fake things real." (via ABC) pic.twitter.com/qr7aqSEIVi
— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) July 19, 2018
Flake announced last October that he is retiring from the Senate thus making him one of the view Republicans in the Senate that are willing to criticize the President without fear of repercussions.
Flake voting record is largely in line with Trump; however, the senator takes issue with Trump’s conduct rather than his policy positions.
The retiring Senator has reserved his harshest takedown of Trump for his Helsinki performance where he used the constitutional definition of treason to describes the President backing Putin’s denials of Russian meddling.
Republican Senators Rand Paul of Kentucky said “Trump derangement syndrome” has come to the Senate in response to Flake and Coons resolution. John Cornyn of Texas described the move dismissively as “purely symbolic.”
