When interviewed Sunday, Turner said he agreed with McCaul’s sentiments.
“We are seeing directly from Russia attempts to hide communications that are anti-Ukraine and pro-Russian messages — some of which we even hear spoken on the House floor,” Turner said on “State of the Union.” from CNN. “I mean, there are members of Congress today who are still incorrectly saying that this conflict between Russia and Ukraine is about NATO, which is obviously not the case.”
The more propaganda “takes hold,” Turner said, “the harder it is for us to actually see this as a battle between authoritarianism and democracy — which is what it is.”
Turner’s comments come amid a Republican Party impasse over additional funding for Ukraine’s defense against Russian invasion. Turner and some of his fellow Republicans have been pushing for more aid to Ukraine — a top priority for the White House and Democrats.
But he faced strong opposition from many Republicans, including Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), who has led calls to impeach House Speaker Mike Johnson (R- La.), if he moved forward with a vote on an aid package. and made several baseless claims about the conflict.
When Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky visited Washington in December to try to secure additional U.S. military aid, Greene suggested that the United States should instead try to broker peace.
Green written the, formerly Twitter, “Why is no one in Washington talking about a peace treaty with Russia??” An agreement with Putin promising that he will not continue invasions.”
U.S. allies and NATO members are also increasingly concerned about future Russian aggression. The Washington Post reported over the weekend that if Donald Trump wins the November election, he would propose pushing Ukraine to cede large swaths of its territory to Russia, expanding the reach of Putin’s dictatorship.
Still, some lawmakers are more optimistic about passing some type of deal. Rep. French Hill (R-Ark.), a staunch Republican supporter of aid to Ukraine, told CBS’s “Face the Nation” on Sunday that he thought Johnson would prioritize passing additional security aid for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan after Congress returned Tuesday from a two-week recess.
“I believe he is fully committed to talking about this immediately” after addressing reauthorization of a controversial national security surveillance program when Congress returns to work, Hill said.
The Senate approved a $95.3 billion funding package earlier this year. Many senators echoed warnings from the White House that without a new infusion of weapons from the United States, Ukraine risks ceding its war to Russia.
But Johnson, facing fierce opposition from his far-right flank, has so far refused to put the Senate package to a House vote.
Hill, who sits on the House Intelligence Committee, suggested Sunday that Johnson would likely introduce a version of the Supplemental National Security Package that would include an additional provision to redirect some frozen Russian assets toward financing Russia’s reconstruction. Ukraine.
However, any changes to the legislation in the House would require significant additional delays in providing aid, requiring the chambers to reconcile and approve differences. But Hill said he believes there is broad bipartisan support for the new provision, known as the REPO Act.
washingtonpost
