While a few Republicans have expressed concern over the issue of Donald Trump’s alleged collusion with the Russians to help secure the 2016 election, most have been willing to look the other way and say there’s no need to jump to conclusions until there’s more evidence.
And now former Vice President Dick Cheney has weighed in on the matter, and it doesn’t sound like he’s very happy with either the Russians or the GOP.
Speaking at the Economic Times‘ Global Business Summit on Monday, Cheney remarked:
“Not long ago, Gorbachev was in power and the Soviets went out of business…but the situation has changed dramatically under Putin. I think he has designs on the Baltics…We know he wanted Crimea — he took it.”
Then Cheney directly addressed the matter of Russian interference in the election:
“There’s no question that there was a very serious effort made by Mr. Putin and his government, his organization, to interfere in major ways with our basic fundamental democratic processes. In some quarters, that could be considered an act of war.”
In an apparent slap at both Donald Trump and the Republicans who have disputed intelligence pointing to Russian activity on the behalf of the GOP, Cheney also said:
“I would not underestimate the weight that we as Americans assign to Russian attempts to interfere with our process.”
Like most Democrats and progressives, I almost never agree with Dick Cheney, and that’s a point of pride for all of us who disagree with his eagerness to engage in wars all over the globe. But on this issue, he’s completely right. Russian interference in an American election is indeed an act of war, and it should be taken very seriously. Republicans who try to downplay the Trump-Russia axis which has developed need to realize that they too will be considered complicit by their continued silence or foot dragging. The time for an independent investigation has come.
Featured Image Via ABC News
