Rand Paul delivers Putin letter from Trump
GOP Sen. Rand Paul (Ky.) said on Wednesday that he delivered a letter from President Trump to Russian President Vladimir Putin as part of his weeklong trip to Moscow.
I was honored to deliver a letter from President Trump to President Vladimir Putin’s administration. The letter emphasized the importance of further engagement in various areas including countering terrorism, enhancing legislative dialogue and resuming cultural exchanges.
— Senator Rand Paul (@RandPaul) August 8, 2018
Spokespeople for Paul directed questions about the letter, which was given to representatives of Putin, to the White House.
“At Senator Paul’s request, President Trump provided a letter of introduction,” deputy White House press secretary Hogan Gidley said in statement. “In the letter, the President mentioned topics of interest that Senator Paul wanted to discuss with President Putin.”
Senators are mulling legislation to slap new sanctions on Russia. Paul voted against a round of sanctions last year.
He also blocked a resolution last month from Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) to support the intelligence community’s findings that Russia meddled in the 2016 presidential election and back Trump sitting down with special counsel Robert Mueller.
“We should stand firm and say, ‘Stay the hell out of our elections,’ but we should not stick our head in the ground and say we’re not going to talk to them,” Paul said from the Senate floor.
—Updated at 12:54 p.m.
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