U.S. officials have reminded elected policymakers more than once about the dangers of promoting Russian disinformation. In fact, the New York Times reported a few weeks ago that American intelligence professionals have informed senators and their aides that Russia has engaged in a lengthy campaign “to essentially frame” Ukraine for Russia’s 2016 election attack.
That didn’t stop Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) from helping promote the Kremlin’s propaganda, which led to some rather fierce criticism for the Louisiana Republican. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) saw the pushback Kennedy received, appeared on NBC News’ Meet the Press, and decided to do the same thing. This was the exchange between the senator and host Chuck Todd that raised so many eyebrows.
TODD: Do you believe Ukraine meddled in the American election in 2016?
CRUZ: I do. And I think there’s considerable evidence of that.
TODD: You do? You do?
CRUZ: Yes.
The Republican went on to concede that Russia “interfered” in the American elections, but he nevertheless chastised the media for playing “a game” that overlooks details that Cruz pretended were true: “Ukraine blatantly interfered in our election.”
This is, of course, precisely what Russian intelligence services want American officials to say.
To bolster his point, Cruz pointed to a 2016 op-ed from a Ukrainian ambassador that disagreed with then-candidate Donald Trump’s vow to consider recognizing Crimea as Russian territory. As grown-ups already know, it’s utterly ridiculous to compare an op-ed to an expansive and expensive covert military intelligence operation launched by the Kremlin.
Indeed, Ted Cruz is no doubt aware of the qualitative differences. He just doesn’t appear to care.
No matter what one thinks of the senator’s politics, it’s probably a mistake to dismiss him as dumb. And therein lies the problem: Cruz, a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, almost certainly knows that U.S. national security officials don’t want lawmakers like him echoing Russian disinformation. He also almost certainly knows that the GOP-led Senate Intelligence Committee determined that Ukraine did not, in reality, interfere with U.S. elections.









