c-span3. online at c-span.org. or listen live on the free c-span at -- c-span app. senator schumer and senator nelson spoke about the indictment during remarks on the senate floor. schumer: this morning the campaign manager for president trump and a close associate turn themselves into federal authorities on a dozen charges. including acting as unregistered agents of a foreign power, and conspiracy against the united states. the indictments of mr. manafort and mr. gates, show that the iscial counsel's probe progressing in a very serious way. mueller is moving forward. what we know now is that an

alleged unregistered foreign agent who was charged laundering tens of millions of dollars from foreign governments on behalf of their agenda was given the chairmanship of the campaign for the presidency and united states, and with it, untold influence on a future president and his party. we know that mr. manafort has had continuing contact with the president since his resignation from the campaign. just a shocking was the admission by trump campaign manager that he met with the kremlin contact to discuss so-called dirt on secretary clinton. while we know that mr. papadopoulos had extensive email exchanges with other trump officials regarding his outreach to russian officials, his admission today raises many more questions than answers. mr. mueller and his team should

be allowed to seek answers to those questions without interference from the president or anyone else. the stakes could not be higher. we're talking about the pride and wellspring of our grand democracy, free and fair elections which have been going on for more than two centuries, and were disturbed and adulterated by a hostile foreign power with no good intent for the people of this country. it is critical that we need to get to the bottom of this. that is special counsel mueller's job and he must be allowed to perform it without interference. the rule of law is paramount in america. we pride ourselves on it. the investigation must be allowed to proceed unimpeded.

the president must not under any circumstances in any way interfere with the special counsel's work. if he does, congress must respond swiftly, unequivocally, and in a bipartisan way to ensure that the investigation continues, and the truth, the whole truth comes out. president, everybody now in washington knows that the special counsel has announced two of president trump's former campaign aides in connection with the ongoing investigation into whether or not russia interfered with the 2016 election. we know now after painstaking investigations in the intelligence community that in

fact russia did interfere in the election. and what many of us are concerned about since they have continued this pattern in other countries elections we are concerned about the fact that they will interfere in the next elections coming up. we have already seen attempts in this special election down in alabama that they have been trying to increase the number of hits going to a facebook or twitter account. they interfered. we learned also this morning that a third former trump campaign aide has pled guilty to in january when he was asked about his interactions while he was with

the trump campaign. mr. president, these are very serious charges. we should be united against any individual who helped further russia's interference in our elections. yet, sadly, the response to these indictments has been seemingly split along partisan lines. that does not make sense. isn't ag america partisan issue. fact, everyone in the senate, all of our democrats, republicans, our two independents, they have sworn oath to -- swore an

defend the constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic. charging these individuals should not be seen as a victory , or it party or another should not be seen as a defeat for a party. these individuals are charged with crimes against the u.s. crimes against all of us americans. the fact is, russian president vladimir putin interfered in our election, and in so doing, he has attacked the very foundation of our constitutional democracy. we know that. that we are not the only country that he has attacked, and according to the u.s. intelligence community, he will continue this type of behavior unless he is stopped. we have such a heavy

responsibility to defend america from these kinds of attacks. our american constitutional foundations built on a process of free and fair and unfettered elections. does not matter whether you are a democrat or a republican, it should be clear. if you help an enemy of the united states metal in our democracy, you will be held accountable. , here in the senate, and throughout the country as a whole, we find ourselves suddenly divided on issues because of party politics. case.hould not be the there should be no disagreement when it comes to protecting america.

americans should be first. not democrats or republicans first. we should be americans first. we must continue to be patient with the mueller investigation, and allow it to follow the facts wherever they may lead. whatse finding out happened is the only way we are going to be able to prevent this from happening again all stop -- and it is the only way we are going to be able to keep our country safe. madam president, i yield the floor. representatives from twitter, facebook, and google testify before congress today and wednesday as part of the investigation into russia's influence on social media in the 2016 election all stop complete

live coverage is available on the c-span networks. c-span3,2:30 p.m. on general counsel from twitter, general counsel from facebook, and director of law enforcement and information security from before the senate judiciary subcommittee on crime and terrorism. on wednesday, two hearings live on c-span3. the house select intelligence committee, hear testimony from google. facebook, and watch all three hearings on c-span.org,ine at or listen live on the free c-span radio app. c-span, where history unfolds daily. in 1979, c-span was created as a public service by america's cable tele