Can Will Hurd Save America? Does he Want to?

Last week the New York Times published an op-ed by Representative Will Hurd who represents the Texas 23rd congressional district spanning from San Antonio almost to El Paso. Hurd wrote of his concerns that Russia’s interference in U.S. elections weren’t being addressed by the Trump administration. Hurd is a former C.I.A. undercover officer so he has deeper knowledge of spying, disinformation and politics than many of his colleagues.

Hurd called out Trump for actively participating in the misinformation campaign to cover up Russia’s actions and at the same time weaken the credibility of and confidence in the United States government at home and abroad. Hurd points out that Russia is working to “sow chaos in our electoral system”. He also reminds us that the United States isn’t Russia’s only target and in fact is just one of many including Great Britain, France, Montenegro, Georgia and Ukraine.

Hurd also refers to comments by director national intelligence Dan Coats continued cyber-attacks by Russia as well as other adversaries on our digital infrastructure involving elections systems as well as electric power grids, water treatment facilities, and oil and gas pipelines.

I am not a fan of Will Hurd, but he deserves credit for calling out Trump and making it clear to Republicans around the country that Russia and Putin are not our friends. I hope that Hurd will follow-up on his concerns by standing up to Intelligence Committee Chair Devin Nunes should he continue to try to cover up Russian interference. Hurd also needs to speak out in support of the work being done by Robert Mueller to expose any conspiracy between the Trump campaign and Russia, especially Paul Manafort whose trial starts Tuesday next week.

A few months ago the White House cybersecurity advisors all resigned response to Trump’s inattention to their concerns about the same kinds of attacks that Hurd and Coats spoke of. Last week Trump eliminated the cybersecurity coordinator position which makes it quite clear that the advisors were right and he isn’t paying attention to the threat.

Does Trump just not get it that the strength and stability of our government is at risk? Is he simply willing to take advantage of Russian interference for the sake of winning elections? Or is he an active participant in a conspiracy to disrupt our nation for his own ends? Given that during the campaign Trump publicly called on Russia to hack Hillary Clinton’s computers and within hours they did so one is left wondering just how cozy he is with Putin.

It’s important the Hurd not follow the example of Senator Jeff Flake who calls out Trump at every opportunity and then votes for whatever Trump wants. It’s time that Republican leaders put country over party and stand on the brakes so that our nation has a chance to recover from the damage already done and not continue to crumble under attacks that we have the power to stop or at least mitigate.

I hope we’ll see other Republicans recognize that the integrity of our democracy is at risk and there is no excuse for partisan acts in this critical moment.

Published in the Seguin Gazette - July 27, 2018