Texas Republican Rep. Will Hurd says Trump is being manipulated by Putin

In a recent New York Times op-ed, Representative Will Hurd of Texas' 23rd Congressional District warned that President Trump was being manipulated by Vladimir Putin.

See how politicians reacted to Trump and Putin's press conference less In a recent New York Times op-ed, Representative Will Hurd of Texas' 23rd Congressional District warned that President Trump was being manipulated by Vladimir Putin.

See how politicians reacted to Trump and ... more Photo: The Washington Post, Contributor / The Washington Post/Getty Images Photo: The Washington Post, Contributor / The Washington Post/Getty Images Image 1 of / 20 Caption Close Texas Republican Rep. Will Hurd says Trump is being manipulated by Putin 1 / 20 Back to Gallery

Texas Congressman and Republican Will Hurd broke with Donald Trump on Thursday, warning that the president was being manipulated by Vladamir Putin.

"Over the course of my career as an undercover officer in the C.I.A.," began Rep. Hurd's New York Times opinion article, "I saw Russian intelligence manipulate many people. I never thought I would see the day when an American president would be one of them."

Hurd, most recently known for his cross-country road trip with Beto O'Rourke, criticized Trump for his failure "to defend the United States intelligence community's unanimous conclusions of Russian meddling in the 2016 election and condemn Russian covert counter-influence campaigns ..."

The San Antonio Republican made his case for why Russia is America's adversary and said America should be prepared for further disinformation campaigns and cyber attacks.

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"I strongly believe in the importance of Congress's oversight responsibilities and will work with my colleagues to ensure that the administration is taking the Russian threat seriously," wrote Hurd.

"Without action, we risk losing further credibility in international negotiations with both our friends and foes on critical trade deals, military alliances and nuclear arms," he continued.

It's not Hurd's first rebuke of Trump.

Earlier this week, Hurd said Trump had been "played" by Putin during their meeting in Helsinki, Finland.

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He was one of several Texas Republicans who had disapproving comments for Trump's controversial press conference with Putin.

"I don't think we should be taking a former KGB colonel's word for what their intelligence apparatus is doing or not doing," Sen. John Cornyn told reporters. "I believe our intelligence community."

Above: See how politicians reacted to Trump and Putin's press conference.

Fernando Ramirez covers Texas news and politics. Read him on our breaking news site and on our subscriber site. | Fernando.ramirez@chron.com | @fernramirez93



