(Bloomberg) — Bernie Sanders warned Russian President Vladimir Putin Friday to stay out of U.S. elections as he confirmed that American intelligence officials had briefed him on Russian efforts to help his presidential campaign.
“Mr. Putin is a thug. He is an autocrat. He may be a friend of Donald Trump — he’s not a friend of mine,” Sanders told reporters in Bakersfield, California. “Let me tell Mr. Putin: The American people, whether you’re Republicans, Democrats, independents, are sick and tired of seeing Russia and other countries interfering in our elections.”
Sanders, who’s seeking the Democratic presidential nomination, said that he received the intelligence briefing about a month ago. The Washington Post reported the briefing earlier Friday and said President Donald Trump and lawmakers on Capitol Hill had also been informed of the Russian involvement.
In a briefing to House lawmakers last week, intelligence officials said that Russia was intervening in the 2020 election to help Trump get re-elected.
Tim Murtaugh, a spokesman for Trump’s re-election campaign, said in a tweet, “We condemn and reject foreign interference in American elections in any form.”
Former Vice President Joe Biden’s Democratic campaign jumped on the developments to suggest he’s the least favorite candidate of the Russians and Trump. “We know who Vladimir Putin doesn’t want to be president,” spokesman Andrew Bates said, “and we know who Donald Trump doesn’t want to be the nominee.”
It isn’t clear how the Russians may be trying to intervene in the current presidential campaign, but at a Democratic debate in Las Vegas on Wednesday, Sanders hinted that abusive behavior attributed to some of his followers may have been the work of foreign elements trying to sow division.
“All of us remember 2016, and what we remember is efforts by Russians and others to try to interfere in our elections and divide us up,” Sanders said. “I’m not saying that’s happening, but it would not shock me.”
Investigations during and after the 2016 campaign found that Russia tried to intervene in support of Trump through social media campaigns and other actions. Prosecutors also said some of the actions were designed to “support Bernie Sanders” against Hillary Clinton in the Democratic primaries.
At a campaign rally in Las Vegas on Friday, Trump said Democrats were promulgating “a rumor” that Russia sought his re-election.
“Doesn’t he want to see who the Democrat’s going to be? Doesn’t he want to see Bernie, who honeymooned in Moscow?” Trump said of Russian President Vladimir Putin.“These people are crazy.” Sanders has said he has visited Moscow but didn’t honeymoon there.
(Disclaimer: Michael Bloomberg is seeking the Democratic presidential nomination. He is the founder and majority owner of Bloomberg LP, the parent company of Bloomberg News.)
(Updates with further comments from Sanders and Trump and Biden campaigns starting in second paragraph)
–With assistance from Jennifer Epstein and Josh Wingrove.
To contact the reporters on this story: Emma Kinery in Bakersfield, California at [email protected];Max Berley in Washington at [email protected]
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Wendy Benjaminson at [email protected], Larry Liebert, Max Berley
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