Hillary Clinton on Wednesday accused President Trump of ignoring a threat to national security after Adm. Michael Rogers, head of U.S. Cyber Command, said he has not been directed to counter possible Russian meddling in the 2018 midterm elections.
In a tweet, the former Democratic presidential nominee said “the Russians are still coming” and implored Trump to take steps to secure America’s voting infrastructure ahead of the midterms.
“I say this as a former Secretary of State and as an American: the Russians are still coming. Our intelligence professionals are imploring Trump to act. Will he continue to ignore & surrender, or protect our country?” Clinton tweeted.
Rogers told lawmakers on Capitol Hill Tuesday that he would require additional authorization from Trump to take more steps to secure voting systems.
“I need a policy decision that indicates there is specific direction to do that,” Rogers said. “The president ultimately would make this decision in accordance with a recommendation from the secretary of Defense.”
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Democrats on the Senate Armed Services Committee and elsewhere seized on Rogers’s testimony, accusing the Trump administration of ignoring the threat posed by Russian hackers.
“Essentially, we have not taken on the Russians yet,” Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.), the committee’s ranking member, said.
“They haven’t paid a price, at least, that has significantly changed their behavior,” Rogers told the panel.
CNN political analyst and Democratic strategist Paul Begala accused Trump of being a “wuss” in responding to Russia.
“Why is Donald Trump, a man so tough he says he would rush into a school shooting unarmed, why is he such a wuss and a wimp about Russia?” Begala said on “Anderson Cooper 360.”
“What do the Russians have on him? Maybe it’s nothing. Maybe it’s just there’s something about Mr. Putin that our president just worships and adores. But the evidence, the direct evidence is just catastrophic for him,” he said, referring to Russian President Vladimir Putin.