Ang patuloy na pagsusumikap ni Pangulong Trump na i-obfuscate at iwasan ang pilit na pagtugon sa panghihimasok ng Russia sa 2016 election hammer ay nagdudulot ng pangangailangan para sa Kongreso na kumilos upang pangalagaan ang ating mga halalan at ang ating demokrasya. Inaasahan ng mga Amerikano na uunahin ng kanilang Pangulo at iba pang mga nahalal na opisyal ang kanilang bansa bago ang kanilang partido kapag nahaharap sa patuloy na banta mula sa isang pagalit na dayuhang estado.

President Trump’s statements and actions today with regards to the Russian threat are completely untethered from reality and run contrary to the conclusions of every U.S. intelligence agency that the Russian government staged a major attack on the 2016 election in an effort to elect him. President Trump continues to undermine the U.S. Department of Justice, the bipartisan report from the Senate Intelligence Committee, and the unanimous assessment of the American intelligence community. President Trump stands alone with Vladimir Putin. 

Russia remains an ongoing threat to the integrity of our elections and to our nation. Only last week the Justice Department handed down indictments of a dozen Russian intelligence agents, adding to a slew of previous indictments related to the attack on the 2016 election. But unfortunately Trump apologists in Congress are preparing to attempt to impeach Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein to undermine the Mueller probe which continues to secure guilty pleas and hand down indictments at a brisk pace. This probe must be protected by those in Congress willing to put their country before their party.

Many states and municipalities are taking critical steps to address the very serious threat to their election infrastructure, but our election infrastructure remains extremely vulnerable. Outdated and insecure voting systems must be replaced.  Voters must be able to mark paper ballots which they can verify — and which can serve as a back up. Election results must be audited manually to establish high confidence that the outcome is correct. Our democracy depends on it.