House Speaker Paul Ryan: 'Really clear' that Russia meddled in 2016 presidential election

WASHINGTON – House Speaker Paul Ryan on Tuesday called Russia "a menacing government" that does not share U.S. values and said there is no doubt that the Russians interfered in the 2016 presidential election.

"They did interfere in our elections – it’s really clear," Ryan told reporters in Washington. "There should be no doubt about that."

He continued: "I understand the desire and the need to have good relations. That’s perfectly reasonable. But Russia is a menacing government that does not share our interests, and it does not share our values. And I think that should be made very, very clear.”

Ryan’s strongly worded remarks came the day after President Donald Trump touched off a political firestorm by accepting denials by Russian President Vladimir Putin that Moscow interfered with the 2016 U.S. election.

Ryan, R-Wis., said he has seen intelligence that left no doubt that Russia interfered in the election.

“Not only did Russia meddle with our elections, they’re doing it around the world,” he said. “They did it to France. They did it to Moldova. They’re doing it to the Baltics. Russia is trying to undermine democracy itself, to delegitimize democracy, so for some reason they can look good by comparison.”

Russia’s interference didn’t have any “material effect” on the U.S. election, Ryan said, but Congress still passed sanctions to hold the country accountable for its actions.

Ryan said also he would be open to placing more sanctions on Russia if needed.

“What we intend to do is to make sure they don’t get away with it again,” he said.

Demonstrating the bipartisan outrage in Congress to Trump’s remarks, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said in a letter to her colleagues that Rep. Eliot Engel, D-N.Y., will introduce a resolution endorsing Ryan’s rebuke of Trump’s comments and reaffirming the accuracy of the intelligence community’s findings that Russia interfered in the election.

In the Senate, Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., also commended his GOP colleagues who pushed back against Trump but said Republicans needed to follow up their comments with action.

“They need to act in the spirit of Ronald Reagan not in the spirit of Donald Trump,” Schumer said on the Senate floor. “Too often when the president goes off the reservation, the Republican Party has lightly rebuked his behavior and waited for everyone to move on.”

Schumer said Congress needed to “ratchet up” sanctions against Russia and demand that Trump push for the extradition of the 12 Russians indicted last week on charges of interfering in the 2016 election.

The Democratic leader also called for the GOP to bring in Trump’s national security team for a hearing and to stop attacking the Department of Justice, FBI and Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian interference in the presidential election.

Schumer also called on Congress to pass legislation that would bolster election security.

WJAX