McCain: Putin could offer ‘enormous assistance’ in cyber efforts ‘since he is doing the hacking’

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) on Sunday joked that he thinks Russian President Vladimir Putin could be of “enormous assistance” regarding cybersecurity because he is the one doing the hacking.

During an interview on CBS’s “Face The Nation,” McCain was asked about President Trump’s earlier tweet in which the president said he talked with Putin during their meeting about creating an “impenetrable Cyber Security unit” to guard against election hacking.

“I’m sure that Vladimir Putin could be of enormous assistance in that effort since he is doing the hacking,” McCain said, laughing.

{mosads}During the interview, McCain also said Russia hasn’t paid a price so far for meddling in the 2016 presidential race.

He said Putin has gotten away with trying to change the outcome of not only the U.S. election, but also other elections across the world.

Trump also said Sunday that he pressed Putin during the meeting about Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election. Trump said Putin “vehemently denied it.”