Rubio urges House to pass Russia sanctions bill now says Dems Trump paranoia helping Putin

WASHINGTON — Secretary of State Marco Rubio urged the House to pass the Lindsey Graham sanctions bill, arguing it would give President Trump more “tools” against Russia and Iran.“It gives the president the authority to do these things.It gives him more tools in the toolbox.

Now he can do a lot of it without the bill, but obviously the Democrats in the House are not apparently in a mood to provide the president any additional legal powers,” Rubio told Brian Kilmeade on his radio show.  “It would be valuable for the president to have these tools available to him, and then he can decide if and when to use them appropriately.”The legislation has already been approved by the Senate.It aims to economically weaken Russia and Iran — hitting the Kremlin with sanctions on those supporting its war in Ukraine and targeting Tehran with measures to curb funding for Iranian energy and weapons programs.Democrats expressed concern the bill may give Trump too much power.“It risks providing tariff and sanction authority to Donald Trump and his administration that we believe they will abuse.

I have serious concerns with the legislation.I haven’t been able to evaluate it line by line yet,” House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) said.The legislation is not up for a vote this week, but Republican leadership said it remains a priority.House GOP Leader Steve Scalise told Fox News that “we’re working through the Russia sanctions bill right now.”Meanwhile, Rubio shrugged off a bombshell report that Russian President Vladimir Putin vowed to help Iran despite US sanctions against the country.“In the case of Iran, we’re not aligned with the Russians and the Russian system in terms of their view of the situation,” Rubio said to Kilmeade. He also pointed out Russia has a lot on its plate with the war with Ukraine.“Obviously Russia has their own hands full with Ukraine and that effort there.

But I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again: nothi...