Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) dismissed the criticism President Trump’s lawyers received for floating Ukraine conspiracy theories during the Senate impeachment trial as a “Democratic talking point” in an interview on CBS Sunday morning.
When asked by CBS’ Margaret Brennan on whether he thinks it was a “misstep” for Trump lawyer Jay Sekulow to float the conspiracy theory that Ukraine meddled in the 2016 election on the Senate floor, Cotton replied “that’s not a conspiracy theory.’
Brennan then pointed out that Sen. John Thune (R-ND) — one of Cotton’s Republican colleagues — said that he’d prefer for Trump’s lawyers to not spread Ukraine conspiracy theories during the trial, which Cotton dismissed as “a Democratic talking point.”
After Brennan pointed out to Cotton again that Thune is a Republican leader who takes issue with Ukraine conspiracy theories being mentioned on the Senate floor, Cotton doubled down that the criticism is a “Democratic talking point.”
“It’s the Democratic talking point that the President and his lawyers have argued that it was Ukraine who interfered in our elections, not Russia,” Cotton said. “You can read the President’s brief. They make it very clear that, yes, you can accept that Russia interfered in a systematic, organized top-down fashion in our election.”
While mentioning that he’s been “part of the Intelligence Committee that’s been investigating it for years,” Cotton added that “you can also say that it’s clear some Ukrainian officials tried to influence the outcome of the election in 2016” and that “both of those things can be true.”
Watch Cotton’s remarks below:
MARGARET BRENNAN: Do you think it was a misstep for one of the president's lawyers, Jay Sekulow, to stand on the floor of the Senate and repeat the conspiracy theory that Ukraine meddled in the 2016 election?
SEN. COTTON: Margaret, that's not a conspiracy theory. pic.twitter.com/KWrVvoN3q9
— Face The Nation (@FaceTheNation) January 26, 2020
