La. Congressman Garret Graves criticizes president's remarks on Russia

Photo: PBS

BATON ROUGE - Louisiana Congressman Garret Graves says he "strongly disagrees" with some of the comments made by President Donald Trump during an appearance alongside Russian leader Vladimir Putin Monday.

Trump repeated that the Russian government denied any involvement in meddling with the 2016 election as he shared a stage with the Russian president at a summit in Helsinki Monday morning. When pressed to condemn the alleged Russian hacking, Trump said he saw no reason why they would have interfered.

"He just said it's not Russia. I will say this: I don't see any reason why it would be," Trump said of Putin.

Graves, a Republican, took to Facebook to voice his frustration with the president's remarks, citing that multiple investigations have confirmed Russian meddling in the election.

"Putin and the Russian government’s integrity and trustworthiness are about as credible as SNL’s Tommy Flanagan – except it’s not funny," Graves said via his public page. "I strongly disagree with some of the president’s remarks today and urge him to provide the American people with some additional clarity regarding our relationship with Russia."

Trump's initial comments came after hours of private talks with Putin at the summit.