(23 May 2018) Secretary of State Mike Pompeo says the Trump administration will not tolerate Russian interference in the 2018 congressional midterm elections.
Pompeo told the House Foreign Affairs Committee on Wednesday that the administration will take "appropriate countermeasures" to fight what he called "continued efforts" by Russia to meddle in November's vote. He did not elaborate on the Russian interference or say what the countermeasures would be but said there was much more work to be done to stop Russia's efforts.
He said the U.S. had not yet been able to establish "effective deterrence" to halt them.
The top-ranking Democrat on the committee, Eliot Engel, however, contended that the Trump administration "is giving Russia a pass" because Russian President Vladimir Putin "supported President Trump over Hillary Clinton" in the 2016 presidential election.
Pompeo also said the U.S. will respond reciprocally to President Nicolas Maduro's expulsion of the top American diplomat in Venezuela.
He told the House committee that the State Department received formal notice Wednesday that charge d'affaires Todd Robinson had been declared persona non grata. He said the U.S. would act in kind, suggesting it would remove Venezuela's top diplomat in Washington as well.
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