GOP “Between Rock and Hard Place” on Trump and Russian Bounty Intel: UVA’s Lawless LIVE

GOP “Between Rock and Hard Place” on Trump and Russian Bounty Intel: UVA’s Lawless LIVE

University of Virginia Political Science Chair Jennifer Lawless appeared on GoLocal LIVE, where she spoke about the reports that American officials provided a written briefing to President Donald Trump that Russia paid Taliban militants to kill U.S. troops — and how the President responded. 

"There are several open questions — the first is what did the President know, the second is when did find out about it, and the third, assuming this intelligence is accurate — and everything suggests that it is — why did he then invite Putin to the G8 summit after that happened and why was Congress entirely in the dark?" said Lawless. 

"We see Democrats already calling for inquiries and hearings and we see Republicans asking questions and saying we need to find answers before there’s a recess for the 4th of July week," said Lawless. "So I think across the board, Capitol Hill is general stunned and the White House is scrambling and trying to put together a coherent statement to make it seem like the President knew what was going on and still didn’t respond to it or react the way that we would expect."

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"It’s hard to imagine any scenario by which President wouldn’t take seriously the idea that U.S. troops’ lives are being threatened — this isn’t the general overall nature of a terrorist attack," said Lawless. "It’s not intelligence suggesting there might be something going on in X place on X day. This was far more specific information.

"If the President's preferences are not to receive a thick daily briefing book and instead being given of summer of the most important threat it’s hard to believe this would have not made the list and so Republicans are caught between a rock and a hard place," she said.