Heidi M. Przybyla

USA TODAY

WASHINGTON – Democratic National Committee Chairman Tom Perez called “appalling” the muted response among GOP lawmakers to revelations that President Trump’s former campaign aide sought to obtain damaging information about Hillary Clinton from people he believed had connections with the Russian government.

“That is serious stuff as it relates to collusion,” Perez told reporters at a breakfast in Washington hosted by The Christian Science Monitor.

Ex-Trump foreign policy adviser George Papadopoulos pleaded guilty to a charge that he lied to FBI agents about his contacts with a professor he believed was linked to the Kremlin during the campaign – one of the first prosecutions in special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into Russia's interference in the 2016 presidential election.

More:Mueller's bombshell: Special counsel charges Manafort, Gates and reveals aide's Russia contacts

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More:Ex-Trump campaign adviser George Papadopoulos pleads guilty to lying to FBI about Russian contacts

While Mueller did not allege collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia, the filings show the professor offered Papadopoulos "dirt" on Trump's election opponent Hillary Clinton in the form of "thousands of emails" — months before the Democratic National Committee revealed that its computer servers had been hacked.

U.S. intelligence agencies have concluded that the DNC's emails were hacked at the behest of the Russian government.

“We now have pretty clear evidence there was an undeniable attack on our democracy,” Perez said Tuesday. “The Russians were trying to traffic in the (Clinton campaign) emails” to get Trump elected, he said. “The rot went all the way to the top of the campaign."

Also on Monday, a grand jury indicted former campaign chairman Paul Manafort and his associate Rick Gates on charges that they secretly worked on behalf of pro-Russian factions in Ukraine, then laundered millions of dollars in profits through foreign bank accounts. Both pleaded not guilty.

In the hours after the indictments and guilty plea were unsealed, Republicans began to slowly respond.

House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., said he didn’t want to speculate on something he hadn’t read – and then said he had “nothing to add, other than nothing’s going to derail what we’re doing in Congress.” House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., said he believed the election results had nothing to do with Russian interference. "I think Russia meddles in everyone's election," he told CNBC.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., also sidestepped questions. "Special Counsel has his job to do, and we’re going to concentrate on what we’re doing here," he told reporters.

Even so, some rank-and-file Republicans, like Rep. Adam Kinzinger of Illinois did respond clearly to the latest revelations. "The American people deserve answers, transparency & the truth. Important to allow Mueller to do his job," he said in a tweet.

Still, Perez said it's "troubling to me to see such appalling silence from so many Republican leaders. The silence isn’t just deafening, it’s appalling.”

In this, Perez said, Republicans are repeating the history of the Watergate scandal that ultimately brought down Richard Nixon’s presidency – when it “took way too long for all to many Republicans to realize they need to put country over party."

Trump hasn't been quiet on the indictment news – but he has been dismissive of it. In an early morning tweet, Trump called Papadopoulos a "liar" and "low level volunteer" on the campaign, seeking to downplay any suggestion of collusion between his campaign and Russia.

“There have been some courageous Republicans” who have been speaking out, Perez noted. “I hope there are more who do so.”

Perez also responded to news reports that Hillary Clinton’s campaign and the DNC helped fund a dossier produced by a former British spy that makes controversial claims about Trump’s ties to the Kremlin, including salacious anecdotes about his activities in Moscow. The firm that performed the research, Fusion GPS, was paid by a law firm working for Democrats.

“Opposition research is not simply something that ought to be done. It would be malpractice not to do it, especially when you have a presidential candidate who blew convention out a window,” said Perez.

Contributing: Julia Fair

More:Charges against Paul Manafort, Rick Gates and George Papadopoulos: What we know now

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