NEW ORLEANS -- Senator John Kennedy, R-Louisiana, believes that authorities must investigate Russia's attempts to influence the US election.
Kennedy released a statement saying that he does not trust Russia and believes Vladimir Putin will take advantage of Americans is given the chance.
“I do not trust Russia. I do not trust Vladimir Putin," Kennedy said. "I think both will not hesitate to take advantage of the American people. We must deal with them from a position of strength. As for the investigation about Russia’s attempt to influence our election, I don’t doubt for a second that the allegations are true. It wouldn’t be the first time. We should investigate, but I think we’ll find that their efforts did not affect the outcome of the election. Still, let’s have a thorough investigation and let the chips fall where they may.”
The New York Times reported that law enforcement and intelligence agencies intercepted calls and phone records showing Donald Trump's presidential campaign aides, as well as other associates, having repeated contact with senior Russian intelligence officials in the year before the election.
The report names four people close to Trump — including Michael Flynn, who recently stepped down as national security adviser — in the FBI's inquiry into links between Trump associates and the Russian government. Officials named Trump's former campaign chairman Paul Manafort as one of the associates on the calls, but did not identify anyone else on the calls, the Times reported.
When asked by the Times, Manafort denied the accounts and called them "absurd."
"I have no idea what this is referring to. I have never knowingly spoken to Russian intelligence officers, and I have never been involved with anything to do with the Russian government or the Putin administration or any other issues under investigation today," he said.
