Rep. Kathleen Rice Statement on Redacted Special Counsel Report

Statement

U.S. Representative Kathleen Rice today released the following statement on the redacted Special Counsel report:
"The Special Counsel's report presents clear and startling evidence that the President repeatedly tried to hinder the investigation into his presidential campaign -- findings that were made all the more glaring by the Special Counsel's explicit decision to not exonerate the President of obstruction of justice. And in stark contrast to Attorney General Barr's previous characterizations, the report clearly states that President Trump did not adequately cooperate with the investigation, the Special Counsel's conclusion was in fact influenced by the Justice Department's opinion that a sitting President cannot be indicted, and that Congress has a clear role to play in holding the President accountable for his actions. Now, more than ever, I believe Congress must exercise its constitutional oversight responsibilities and further investigate the report's findings.

"It's also critically important that we do not lose sight of the report's core conclusion: Russia launched a sophisticated and successful campaign to influence the 2016 presidential election. This was an attack on the United States of America by a hostile foreign power and there is no doubt that Russia will try to repeat it's success in 2020. Congress must act now to defend our democratic institutions -- we need to implement a comprehensive strategy to secure our election infrastructure, strengthen our cyber security capabilities and stop future attacks before they happen. But most of all, we need this administration to finally acknowledge this threat as the urgent national security issue it is, rather than politicize and dismiss it, as they have done for the past two years."

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