On the same day that President Donald J. Trump hosted Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov at the White House, U.S. Sen. Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, blocked an effort to fast-track a bill meant to punish Russia or other foreign countries for meddling in U.S. elections, as Russia did in 2016.
On the U.S. Senate floor on Tuesday, one of the bill’s sponsors asked for unanimous consent that the Senate take up a bill that has been pending in the Senate Banking Committee since July. Crapo chairs the committee, which has jurisdiction over sanctions.
Under the bipartisan bill, the Defending Elections from Threats by Establishing Redlines (DETER) Act, after every federal election the director of national intelligence, in consultation with other intelligence agencies, the Department of Justice, and State, Treasury and Homeland Security secretaries, would determine whether there was foreign interference in the election.