RISCH: Peculiar Putin stance

Sen. Jim Risch did not complain when President Trump secretly and informally negotiated 16 times with Vladimir Putin between 2017 and 2019.

But now as President Biden meets Putin for just the first time, Senator Risch blamed him in the high-profile Washington Post for a “pattern of support for Putin’s malign influence.” Risch further claimed that Biden has “no concrete agenda” for dealing with the Russian president.

Why didn’t Senator Risch ask what was on the agenda when our disgraced former president, who said he didn’t need an agenda to sweet talk his way into deals with dictators, met Putin and believed he was not interfering in U.S. elections?

Senator Risch’s lack of curiosity about Trump and his critical remarks about Biden both undermine U.S. efforts to constrain Putin. They are thus unpatriotic. As the ranking Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Senator Risch must know that he should refrain from such misbehavior.

Idahoans deserve a senator who represents us responsibly and with integrity.

EVAN KOCH, Chair

Kootenai County Democratic Central Committee