February 18th, 2018
This Kyle Griffin tweet sums up Donald Trump’s reaction since Robert Mueller’s indictment. Basically, it’s been a ‘no collusion’ collage of tweets and still no plans from Trump to impose Russian Sanctions overwhelmingly approved by Congress.
Overwhelmingly approved:
98-2 vote in the Senate
419-3 vote in the House
Trump has tweeted a dozen times about Russia since the Mueller indictment.
He still has not indicated any plans to punish Russia for the actions laid out in the indictment (like imposing the sanctions Congress passed in 2017).
Trump hasn’t done a thing since July 27th, 2017 and well before.
Trump eventually signed this bill, but since has declined to enforce the sanctions.
Congress sends Russia sanctions to Trump's desk, daring a veto
The Senate on Thursday delivered Donald Trump the first big bipartisan rebuke of his presidency, giving final approval to a package of sanctions on Russia, Iran, and North Korea that constrains his bid to defrost relations with Moscow.
The Senate voted 98-2 to approve the sanctions bill that cleared the House earlier this week. Trump must now decide whether to sign a measure that allows Congress to block any attempt to ease or end penalties against Vladimir Putin's government and imposes new sanctions in response to a Russian electoral disruption campaign that the president continues to dispute.
The House passed the sanctions package on Tuesday in an overwhelming 419-3 vote, and an intra-GOP squabble that threatened to delay its passage was quickly resolved Wednesday night.
White House to Congress: Russia sanctions not needed now
The Trump administration informed lawmakers Monday that new Russia sanctions called for in a bipartisan bill passed last year are not necessary yet because the measure is already "serving as a deterrent."
The announcement came as lawmakers in both parties nudged the administration to implement sanctions legislation that passed overwhelmingly in July — with only five no votes in both the House and Senate. The sanctions bill requires the imposition of penalties by Monday against entities doing "significant" business with Moscow's defense and intelligence sectors, unless Congress is notified that prospective targets are "substantially reducing" that business.
February 16th, 2018
13 Russians Indicted as Mueller Reveals Effort to Aid Trump Campaign
The Justice Department charged 13 Russians and three companies on Friday in a sprawling indictment that unveiled a sophisticated network designed to subvert the 2016 election and to support the Trump campaign. It stretched from an office in St. Petersburg, Russia, into the social feeds of Americans and ultimately reached the streets of election battleground states.
The Russians stole the identities of American citizens, posed as political activists and used the flash points of immigration, religion and race to manipulate a campaign in which those issues were already particularly divisive, prosecutors said.
What we’re seeing now is an increasingly desperate “president” trying to change the narrative. It’s my opinion that Trump is feeling some pressure to impose the sanctions and he’s fighting back for his boss man Vladimir Putin.
The question that needs to be asked everyday until November 6th, 2018:
Why is Donald Trump refusing to impose sanctions against Russia, that were overwhelmingly approved by Congress?