By: Molly Hooper
Sen. Richard Durbin (D-Ill.) on Tuesday said he fears an exodus of national security officials following President Trump’s widely criticized press conference Monday with Russian leader Vladimir Putin.
“I would understand why many would resign,” the Senate’s No. 2 Democrat told the Hill when asked if he thought national security officials would leave the administration.
“What the president said yesterday is inconsistent with American values and American foreign policy,” Durbin said.
Despite U.S. intelligence assessments, President Trump refused to blame Russia for meddling in the 2016 elections and gave weight to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s strong denials of any such involvement on the part of his country.
Durbin applauded the Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats, who issued a statement backing the intelligence community’s findings shortly after Trump questioned those findings during the press conference with Putin.
“I want to salute my former colleague Dan Coats, my former Republican Senate colleague, for standing up and not backing off after the president made these outrageous statements at Helsinki,” Durbin said.
Watch the video above to hear Durbin in his own words.
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