WASHINGTON, DC - U.S. Senator Jack Reed (D-RI), Ranking Member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, issued the following statement urging President Trump to cancel his upcoming meeting with Vladimir Putin in Helsinki after the Justice Department announced charges against 12 Russian intelligence officers for hacking offenses during the 2016 U.S. presidential election:

“The Special Counsel indictment today, charging Russian Military Intelligence (GRU) with engaging in “large scale cyber operations to interfere with the 2016 presidential election,” further solidifies the unanimous assessment of our intelligence community that Putin directed an attack on our 2016 elections.

“President Trump should immediately cancel his meeting with Vladimir Putin.  This was a direct attack by a foreign adversary, in communication with Americans, to interfere in our election. 

“It’s long past time for the President to put aside the idea that Putin “is fine,” and that we should take Putin at his word when he tells the President that “he didn’t meddle.”  Instead President Trump needs to listen to his own intelligence community and confront this threat to our democracy.”