Just a few days ago, Sen. John McCain accused Sen. Rand Paul, a fellow Republican, of working for Russian president Vladimir Putin. It was a shocking allegation, but there might just be some truth to it because Paul himself has just admitted to delivering a letter to Putin from Trump.
Trump has been standing up for Russia even despite reports from the intelligence community that Russia had meddled in the last presidential election (likely because it worked out in his favor). The letter that Paul gave to Putin was supposedly a proposal for cooperation, which comes a week after Trump’s own national security team stated that Russia was making “pervasive” attempts to meddle in the midterm elections in November. Of course, Putin denied this.
Trump got bashed by his own party in July for defending Putin in Helsinki. Paul was one of the only GOPers to defend the president and said he delivered the letter to ease tensions. Paul wrote on Twitter:
I was honored to deliver a letter from President Trump to President Vladimir Putin’s administration. The letter emphasized the importance of further engagement in various areas including countering terrorism, enhancing legislative dialogue and resuming cultural exchanges.”
I was honored to deliver a letter from President Trump to President Vladimir Putin’s administration. The letter emphasized the importance of further engagement in various areas including countering terrorism, enhancing legislative dialogue and resuming cultural exchanges.
— Senator Rand Paul (@RandPaul) August 8, 2018
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov stated that the Kremlin did not know what was in the letter, but insisted that the letter from Trump was delivered to Putin by diplomatic channels.
Paul’s newfound interest in Russia is peculiar, to say the least. On Monday, Paul also took it upon himself to invite Russian lawmakers to Washington for talks on nuclear proliferation and terrorism. Additionally, the Kentucky Senator promised to block new sanctions against Russia. This is definitely raising some eyebrows, and making the Republican Party look really suspicious.
To make this story even more shady, the White House has finally responded to the many questions about Paul’s letter. Here’s what the Trump administration said:
At Senator Paul’s request, President Trump provided a letter of introduction. In the letter, the President mentioned topics of interest that Senator Paul wanted to discuss with President Putin.”
Weird WH statement on the letter Rand gave to Putin
“At Senator Paul’s request, President Trump provided a letter of introduction. In the letter, the President mentioned topics of interest that Senator Paul wanted to discuss with President Putin.”
— Sam Stein (@samstein) August 8, 2018
This is beyond bizarre! Hopefully more details will be coming out soon, because this definitely needs a better explanation.
Featured image via screen capture
