Sure was nice of not one, but two GOP senators trying to get Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy killed by sharing pictures of a closed online address by the leader to Congress over social media, pictures that almost certainly gave his location right to the Russian hit squads hunting him and his family down.
Two Republican senators are facing criticism after tweeting photos of a video call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy even though participating lawmakers were told to not share pictures on social media while it was in progress.
Sens. Marco Rubio of Florida and Steve Daines of Montana posted pictures of Zelenskyy on their Twitter accounts during the Zoom meeting Saturday morning, writing that they were on a call with him.
Democratic Reps. Dean Phillips of Minnesota and Jason Crow of Colorado criticized the senators on Twitter.
Phillips noted that the "Ukrainian ambassador very intentionally asked each of us on the Zoom to NOT share anything on social media during the meeting to protect the security of President Zelenskyy."
"Appalling and reckless ignorance by two U.S. Senators," Phillips wrote.
"The lack of discipline in Congress is truly astounding," Crow wrote. "If an embattled wartime leader asks you to keep quiet about a meeting, you better keep quiet about the meeting. I’m not saying a damn thing. Lives are at stake."
Members were explicitly asked not to tweet or post pictures of the call while it was in progress, multiple aides told NBC News. The embassy coordinated this with the offices of Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., as well as the Congressional Ukraine Caucus, said a Democratic leadership aide.
In separate statements, representatives for Rubio and Daines defended the senators' decision to share the photos, calling those who make an issue out of their tweets a "partisan."
"There were over 160 members of Congress on a widely reported Zoom call. There was no identifying information of any kind," said a spokesperson for Rubio.
A spokesperson for Daines said his tweet, which was posted about 23 minutes after the meeting started, was "shared well into the call ... before it was requested not to" and contained "no identifying information."
They were told not to do it, they did it anyway, they don't apologize for it, and they don't care one whit that they potentially put Zelenskyy's life and family at risk, but sure. Rubio is an attention-starved toddler, but Daines should know better, having worked for Proctor & Gamble in China for more than five years. Guy should know something about operational security.
The larger point is they don't care about keeping information safe. That's a running theme with these jagoffs.
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