Rubio Statement on Indictments of 12 Russian Nationals

Statement

U.S. Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL), a member of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, today issued a statement after the Department of Justice Special Counsel indicted 12 Russian nationals for interfering in the 2016 U.S. presidential election. Earlier this year, Senators Rubio and Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) introduced the Defending Elections from Threats by Establishing Redlines (DETER) Act, legislation that would impose tough sanctions on Russia if it interferes in our democratic process in the future.

"Our strength as a democracy and an open society relies on the strength of our institutions. Today's indictments of 12 Russian nationals is a positive step toward rebuilding confidence in our system and deterring future Russian meddling in our elections. Vladimir Putin has a zero-sum worldview whose number one objective was to leave the United States deeply divided. As a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, I remain committed to exposing Russian efforts to use social media and other mechanisms to orchestrate chaos in our political discourse. Today's indictments clearly demonstrates that this is not a partisan issue, and we must begin to take concrete steps to deter foreign governments from interfering in our political dialogue and dividing us as a nation against each other."

Source