Rep. Jim Himes (D., Conn.) believes that President Barack Obama did not do enough to respond to Russian hacking in the 2016 presidential election.
Himes said as much during an interview on CNN on Wednesday in which he discussed Obama and President Donald Trump's responses to Russia's meddling efforts.
Trump tweeted a claim Monday that his predecessor "did NOTHING about Russia after being notified by the CIA of meddling," saying that this was because Obama expected Hillary Clinton to win the election. Trump was likely responding to a Washington Post report detailing Obama's response to information about Russian interference in the election.
https://twitter.com/realdonaldtrump/status/879317636164841474
Himes voiced his own criticism of Obama in response to a question from CNN host Wolf Blitzer, who asked Himes not about Trump's tweet, but about a CNN report that Trump's advisers were still struggling to convince him to take the Russian threat seriously.
Himes was critical of Trump's management issue, saying that "the reality is this administration is not taking the Russia threat at all seriously," and alluding to a "soft spot" Trump may have for Russia.
But, notably, he agreed with Trump's tweeted claims that Obama did not do enough.
"I don't disagree with the president that our last president, President Obama, he did not do nothing, he did a lot, but he didn't do enough," Himes said. "He didn't do enough to cause Vladimir Putin to know that this sort of attack on the United States will be met by painful retribution. So Trump is right in that regard."