Top Senate Democrats Call For Sanctions On Russia After Reports Of Attempted Election Interference

Top Democratic senators have urged the Trump administration to impose new sanctions on Russia after U.S. intelligence officials alleged last week that Moscow is attempting to interfere in the 2020 election.

"We urge you to immediately and forcefully impose sanctions on the government of the Russian Federation, any Russian actors determined to be responsible for such interference, and those acting on their behalf or providing material or financial support for these election interference efforts," the letter said, which was written by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., along with Sen. Robert Menendez, D-N.J., and Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio.

The letter, which was obtained by Politico, was directed toward Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin.

U.S. intelligence officials told lawmakers on Feb. 13 that Russia is attempting to interfere in the 2020 presidential election in favor of President Trump. Trump reportedly became angry after he heard of the briefing, and fired acting Director of National Intelligence Joseph Maguire.

Following Maguire’s ouster, Trump announced that U.S. Ambassador to Germany Richard Grenell would be nominated to the temporary role. Grenell, a Trump loyalist, has no intelligence experience.

Trump has called the reports of Russian meddling a “hoax.” Intelligence officials have also recently told Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders that Russia was interfering on behalf of his campaign.

Sanders has said that he “unequivocally” condemns Russian interference in the election.

Concerns about Russian interference in the 2016 election led to the Special Counsel investigation, led by Special Prosecutor Robert Mueller. Mueller was tasked with determining whether the Trump presidential campaign had colluded with Russia.

The investigation lasted from May 2017 to March 2019, and was frequently derided by Trump. The final Special Counsel report said that while it found no evidence of the Trump campaign colluding with Russia, it did not exonerate him. The report left it up to Congress to determine whether Trump should be prosecuted for possible obstruction of justice charges.