Senate GOP-led committee cleared Ukraine of US election meddling – and yet Republicans now spreading same Putin propaganda

The Republican-led Senate Intelligence Committee in 2017 investigated allegations that Ukraine interfered in the 2016 U.S. presidential election, and cleared that country of any actions that would be in any way similar to the attacks by Russia to put Donald Trump in the White House.

And yet increasingly prominent members of the GOP are parroting those widely-debunked talking points that come straight from the Kremlin. Among the Republicans spreading Russian propaganda are House Intelligence Committee Ranking Member Devin Nunes of California,  Senator John Kennedy of Louisiana, and of course, President Donald Trump.

The Intelligence Committee "thoroughly investigated" the claim that Ukraine attacked the U.S. election, Politico reports, "and found no evidence that Ukraine waged a top-down interference campaign akin to the Kremlin’s efforts to help Trump win in 2016."

The Committee released a bipartisan report that found, in part, Politico notes, that "there was 'little evidence' of a 'top-down effort' by the Ukrainian government to sabotage Trump’s campaign."

On Sunday, for example, Senator Kennedy (R-LA) (video below) said that “Russia was very aggressive and they're much more sophisticated, but the fact that Russia was so aggressive does not exclude the fact that [former] President Poroshenko [of Ukraine] actively worked for Secretary Clinton.” That is false.

That 2017 Senate Intelligence Committee report did, however, note that Russia tried to blame Ukraine for the downing of Malaysian Airlines Flight 17. Russia is believed to be behind the crash that killed all 298 passengers and crew members.

Read the full Politico report here.