U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, speaks during an interview with the Juneau Empire at the Capitol on Thursday, Feb. 21, 2019. (Michael Penn | Juneau Empire File)

U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, speaks during an interview with the Juneau Empire at the Capitol on Thursday, Feb. 21, 2019. (Michael Penn | Juneau Empire File)

Opinion: Sullivan should defend truth about election interference

He should defending this truth against Trump’s conspiracy theories when he is tried in the Senate.

I recently contacted the office of U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, to clarify his position on the question of foreign interference in the 2016 U.S. elections.

As a Marine, a senior appointee in the Bush administration, and now as senator, Sullivan must have worked closely with the U.S. intelligence community at various points in his career. He has presumably based important decisions and policy advice on their intelligence.

I asked whether Sullivan believes the intelligence out of the CIA and other agencies in the IC that indicates there was Russian interference in the 2016 elections. This intelligence has been repeatedly called into question by President Donald Trump, who has also been critical of the agencies themselves. According to my phone conversation with Sullivan’s aide, the Senator believes the U.S. Intelligence Community’s assessment that Russia interfered in the 2016 U.S. presidential election.

Senator, thank you for your office’s response to my question. I look forward to you actively defending this truth against Trump’s conspiracy theories when he is tried in the U.S. Senate.

Chase Hensel,

Fairbanks


• Columns, My Turns and Letters to the Editor represent the view of the author, not the view of the Juneau Empire.