Boyle to Introduce Bill Banning ‘Cyber Security Unit’ with Russia

Bill comes as Trump trumpets then backs away from agreement with Putin

Rep. Brendan Boyle, D-Pa., offered plans to block President Donald Trump's plans for collaboration on cyber security with Russian President Vladimir Putin. (Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call file photo)
Rep. Brendan Boyle, D-Pa., offered plans to block President Donald Trump's plans for collaboration on cyber security with Russian President Vladimir Putin. (Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call file photo)
Posted July 10, 2017 at 7:31am

Pennsylvania Democratic Rep. Brendan Boyle announced Sunday he would introduce legislation to block President Donald Trump’s attempts to create a cybersecurity unit with Russia.

 

Boyle told NBC10 in Phildadelphia affiliate of his intentions after President Donald Trump tweeted Sunday morning that he had discussed forming a unit with Russian President Vladimir Putin in light of allegations that Russia meddled in the 2016 election.

 

Boyle said his bill would “prohibit the United States from participating in any type joint working group with Russia on cybersecurity efforts.”

 

“Hiring Mr. Putin to protect our electoral process is like a group of homeowners hiring a security guard to protect them after that individual has broken into their homes,” Boyle said in the statement.

 

Trump touted the “impenetrable Cyber Security unit” as one of the accomplishments in his two-hour-plus conversation with Putin at the G-20 summit in Hamburg, Germany, last week. But he backed away from that hours later.

 

 

This came after some Republican senators like Florida Sen. Marco Rubio and Nebraska Sen. Ben Sasse criticized the idea. Rubio compared it to partnering with Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad on “a chemical weapons unit.”