A prominent Democratic strategist said Friday the Obama administration should have been more proactive about curbing Russian influence in the election.
Mary Anne Marsh, once a senior adviser for former Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., told Fox News that she did not “believe the Obama team and President Obama did enough,” even though there were clear signs of Russian intent to manipulate the outcome of the 2016 presidential election.
The former Kerry adviser said she believes the Obama administration had a duty to go above the Senate’s objection to issuing a bipartisan joint resolution addressing the Russia concerns.
“Just because Mitch McConnell refused to sign into a statement — ultimately, any president is the commander in chief and you have to protect our country and our national security,” she said, referring to the Senate majority leader.
“To have Russia, a foreign country, interfere in our election, possibly hacking machines, is unacceptable. You can’t care what anybody thinks about [why] you’re doing it.”
President Trump has repeatedly shifted blame of Russian interference to Obama and his administration, insisting that a lack of leadership under Obama was at fault for their attempts to influence the election and not the alleged collusion between the Trump campaign and agents of the Russian government.
Trump again exemplified his blame of Obama on Thursday after the Mueller report showed the Trump campaign did not collude with the Russians.
“Anything the Russians did concerning the 2016 Election was done while Obama was President. He was told about it and did nothing! Most importantly, the vote was not affected,” Trump tweeted.
Anything the Russians did concerning the 2016 Election was done while Obama was President. He was told about it and did nothing! Most importantly, the vote was not affected.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 18, 2019
