Rep. Castro on NYT Report: ‘Jarring’ to Read that Trump May Have Been a Russian Asset but ‘Not Surprising’

EXCERPT:

CASTRO: "It’s just jarring. Even as somebody who sat through all those interviews on the House Intelligence Committee, just as an American to read that the FBI has opened a counter-intelligence investigation against the President with the idea he made may basically be a Russian asset working on behalf of Russia, particularly given the history between the United States and Russia is jarring. At the same time, I tend to have a conflicting feeling because, like millions of Americans, it’s also not surprising based on everything we've witnessed and based on Donald Trump’s behavior over the past three years or so, you know, starting with for me and it’s mentioned in the article, when he openly invited Russia to hack into the e-mails of his competitor, another American presidential candidate. And the meeting at Trump Tower, the news yesterday about Paul Manafort sharing polling data with the Russian oligarch and that was probably close to Vladimir Putin, all of these connections. And then all these people that seemed to end up on the Trump campaign that had deep Russian connections over the years, whether it was Paul Manafort or Michael Flynn and others. It’s just so strange to read that an American president would be thought of or accused of this. But it’s inescapable when you look at Donald Trump’s behavior, you've got to consider it."