A handful of House Republicans have been voting against bills aimed at holding Russia accountable for its invasion of Ukraine, giving Democrats an avenue to accuse the GOP of harboring a faction that is sympathetic to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Six Republicans on Wednesday opposed a bill directing the government to collect evidence “related to war crimes and other atrocities committed during the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine.” Every other member of the House present voted yes.
The six Republicans who voted “no” were Reps. Andy Biggs (Ariz.), Warren Davidson (Ohio), Marjorie Taylor Greene (Ga.), Paul Gosar (Ariz.). Thomas Massie (Ky.) and Scott Perry (Pa.).
The bill was considered days after images of civilians dead in the streets of towns and suburbs surrounding Kyiv emerged as Russian troops left those areas and the Ukrainian military moved in.
Russia’s government has denied the allegations, but videos and stills have emerged backing up the argument that Russian troops indiscriminately targeted civilians. One photo showed a person killed with their hands tied behind their back. Other satellite images showed bodies had been lying in the streets for weeks while Russian troops occupied certain areas.
Hours after the Senate in a rare 100-0 tally voted to end permanent normal trade relations with Russia and Belarus, which has supported Moscow’s war in Ukraine, three House Republicans voted “no” in a 420-3 vote in the House that sent the measure to Biden’s desk.
The “no” votes this time came from Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.), Greene and Massie.
Seven House Republicans also voted against a bill to ban imports of Russian oil, coal, and gas: Greene, Massie, Gaetz, Rep. Dan Bishop (R-N.C.), Biggs, Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas), and Gosar. They were joined by two Democrats: Reps. Ilhan Omar (Minn.) and Cori Bush (Mo.).
Democrats have seized on the votes, casting the Republicans as a pro-Moscow caucus.
“The GOP’s Pro-Putin faction is anti-democratic,” the Democratic National Campaign Committee said in a tweet response to the votes against the war crimes evidence bill.
Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney (D-N.Y.) quipped that “Republicans are Putin-curious,” while Rep. Dean Phillips (D-Minn.) expressed disbelief: “Can you imagine voting against reporting and preserving evidence of Putin’s war crimes? Can you imagine?”
It is becoming a core line of attack. House Democratic Caucus Chair Rep. Hakeem Jeffreies (D-N.Y.) identified a “pro-Putin caucus” among the Republicans in a press conference last week.
The Republicans who have cast the votes against the measures, which had overwhelming support from the GOP overall, cast themselves as being concerned about unintended effects of the bills.
They argued they could lead to more inflation, or in the case of the war crimes measure would cede U.S. authority to international courts.
“It is not ‘Pro-Putin’ to observe second and third-order consequences of legislation that wanders far beyond its stated scope,” Gaetz said in a Thursday tweet.
Roy, Greene, Gaetz, and others who voted against the energy sanctions bill cited concerns that blocking the energy imports would contribute to higher prices for gas and other goods.
“All the current legislation will do is empower adversaries like Iran and Venezuela while sticking American consumers with higher prices at the pump,” Roy said in a statement.
Massie said that he opposed the war crimes bill because it could provide a president for evaluating U.S. troops for war crimes in Afghanistan for accidental bombings or drone strikes. He also said that provisions expanding “overly broad’ executive powers to impose sanctions on those who the president deems to have engaged in human rights abuses are “legislative malpractice.”
Asked about accusations of being pro-Putin for such kinds of votes, Massie paraphrased a line in a 2014 op-ed by former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger: “Vilifying Putin is not a foreign policy. It’s an alibi for the lack of one.”
Perry and Biggs expressed concern about sovereignty in the bill directing that information about war crimes be collected. The bill specified that the information would be kept to potentially be used in “international courts,” but the United States does not recognize the authority of the International Criminal Court. They cited the risk of U.S. troops being subject the international jurisdiction if the government recognizes international courts for other countries.
Bigggs said it was “bogus” to call his position po-Putin. “Russia had no provocation,” he said.
“Vladimir Putin is a war criminal who should be tried for war crimes, but Americans deserve to be fully informed on what this bill says and does, and not be guided solely by the flashy title,” Perry said in a statement.
Opposition to the bills is giving fuel to critics who say that those votes combined with recent statements from high-profile Republicans expose a faction of the party that is sympathetic to Russia.
Former President Trump had previously described Putin as a “genius,” prompting some Republicans to distance themselves. In a Wednesday interview with the Washington Post, Trump said that Putin “overplayed his hand” by invading the country.
Rep. Madison Cawthorn (R-N.C.), who voted in favor of the three Russia-related bills up for a vote in the House this week, faced backlash from House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) after he described Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky as a “thug.”
Davidson said he is “certainly not pro-Russia,” noting his previous criticism of the war.
“It kind of comes with the whole narrative, like the rush to get involved in a war that we’re not actually directly in,” Davidson said, but added that “we should support them.”
Greene said worries of escalation and U.S. intervention were behind her opposition.
“Potentially, this could end up leading us into World War III, which none of us want,” she said in a video she recorded after the votes on Thursday. “While we are heartbroken and we pray for the people of Ukraine, and we are all against the war that’s happening there, what they should be doing is we should be urging Putin and Zelensky to the negotiating table to negotiate peace and end the war. These sanctions are not going to do that.”
The votes against the oil, coal, and gas imports ban from Omar and Bush undercut the argument on that legislation, at least, that Republican opposition to the bill signaled Putin sympathies.
When a previous version was up for a vote last month, Omar had cited concerns with how the energy imports ban would affect human suffering in Russia, and Bush said she was concerned that it would result in more U.S. oil and gas drilling.
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