Top Senate Dem: Trump administration’s lack of focus on election security an ’embarrassment’

Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) blasted the Trump administration on Sunday, saying it has not made election security a top priority ahead of November’s midterms.

Warner said on CNN’s “State of the Union” that election security would be a priority “in a normal administration,” adding that it is an “embarrassment” that it is not a top concern of President Trump’s.

“I am not sure we are fully prepared,” Warner said.

Warner’s comments come days after the Justice Department’s announcement that special counsel Robert Mueller had indicted 12 Russians in the 2016 hacking of the Democratic National Committee (DNC).{mosads}

Mueller charged 11 of the intelligence officers — all members of Russia’s military intelligence agency the GRU — with conspiring to infiltrate the DNC and Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee networks. The 12th officer is charged with conspiring to hack into systems used to administer elections.

The intelligence community determined that the Russians’ efforts were aimed at undercutting Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton’s campaign in order to help elect then-candidate Trump to the presidency. The Senate Intelligence Committee concluded earlier this month it saw no reason to dispute those findings. Warner is the top Democrat on that committee.

Trump is set to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday for a sit-down in which Trump said he may address the extradition of the 12 Russian officers.

Trump has also said he would press Putin on Russian interference in the 2016 election, but said there is little he can do to stop future meddling.

Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen said Saturday that her agency has not seen the same levels of Russian interference targeting U.S. midterm elections as was reported in 2016.

But Nielsen cautioned that some level of Russian interference is still present and urged state officials to remain vigilant as some officials have noticed “persistent Russian efforts using social media, sympathetic spokespeople and other fronts to sow discord and divisiveness amongst the American people, though not necessarily focused on specific politicians or political campaigns,” according to Time.