Rep. Jim Himes (D., Conn.) on Monday agreed with President Donald Trump's tweet that former President Barack Obama did not do enough to punish Russia after he learned of the country's meddling efforts in the 2016 election.
Obama learned about Russian President Vladimir Putin’s "direct involvement in a cyber campaign to disrupt and discredit the U.S. presidential race" from the CIA last August, the Washington Post reported. In the story, one official said the administration "choked" in its response, which included weighing the possibility the White House could undermine a likely Hillary Clinton victory over Trump.
Trump tweeted early Monday that "President Obama did NOTHING after being informed in August about Russian meddling."
The real story is that President Obama did NOTHING after being informed in August about Russian meddling. With 4 months looking at Russia...
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 26, 2017
"I happen to agree with that," Himes said, referring to Obama not doing enough. "I think that the Russians walked away from this experience thinking that the expulsion of a bunch of their diplomats and intelligence officers and the shuttering of those two so-called diplomatic facilities was actually no big deal, kind of a slap on the wrist."
He went on to say that as a member of the House Intelligence Committee, he believes that Russia will do the same thing in the upcoming election in Germany and the 2018 midterm elections in the United States.