GOP Senators Are ‘Acting as Russian Launderers’ of Anti-Biden Disinformation, Swalwell Says

GOP Senators Are ‘Acting as Russian Launderers’ of Anti-Biden Disinformation, Swalwell Says

Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA) on Friday accused Republican senators of “laundering” disinformation from Russian sources designed to harm Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden.

Swalwell was responding to a report that a top U.S. counterintelligence official warned that Russia is attempting to denigrate the former vice president and the Democratic Party with the help of a Kremlin-aligned Ukrainian lawmaker who has met with Rudy Giuliani, President Trump’s personal lawyer.

“Russia has a capability, a scope, an intent, and…they did this before,” Swalwell said, “and they are doing it through the U.S. Senate.” Swalwell was referring to an ongoing probe by Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) into whether Hunter Biden’s involvement with a Ukranian gas company conflicted with then-Vice President Biden’s work.

Johnson has been criticized by Democrats for the foreign election interference concerns inherent in such a probe, and for using his power as chairman of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs to give Trump the investigation into the Bidens that resulted in his impeachment last year.

Russian allies are “laundering this information by this individual…who’s publicly said that he is sending materials to Ron Johnson and Lindsey Graham so that they can try and tear down Joe Biden,” Swalwell said.

“Members of the U.S. Senate are acting as Russian launderers of this information to bring down a U.S. candidate. That’s reprehensible, and it should stop.”

Watch the video above, via MSNBC.

William Vaillancourt

William Vaillancourt is a writer and editor from New Hampshire whose work has appeared in The Washington Post, The Boston Globe, The Progressive, Slate and Areo Magazine, among other places. He holds a BA in Political Science and History from Boston University.

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