Tom Perez, DNC chair: Indictments show ‘rot went all the way to the top’ of Trump campaign

The head of the Democratic National Committee on Tuesday mocked the Trump administration’s claim that the indictments and a guilty plea this week from members and advisers to the Republican’s 2016 campaign has nothing to do with the president, saying there is now “clear evidence” of collusion with Russia.

Speaking at a breakfast sponsored by the Christian Science Monitor, Tom Perez, who took over the troubled DNC this year, said the indictments of former campaign chairman Paul Manafort and longtime associate Rick Gates, as well as the guilty plea from George Papadopoulos, who served as a foreign policy adviser, show “that the rot went all the way to the top of the campaign.”

“It is clear to me that the investigation will continue and this is not the end of the criminal charges moving forward, and it is troubling to me to see such appalling silence from so many Republican leaders because the silence isn’t simply deafening, it is appalling, because we are Americans first, and this was indeed an assault, not just simply on the DNC, but our democracy,” Mr. Perez said.

Mr. Perez also took aim at the way in which White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders dismissed the legal action as unrelated to the Trump campaign.

“I looked at the Papadopoulos materials,” he said. “How can you look someone in the eye with a straight face on the podium where she stood and say that Papadopoulos, his guilty plea, had nothing to do with the campaign? That is beyond the laugh test.”

On Monday, special counsel Robert Mueller announced a guilty plea from Mr. Papadopoulos who lied to the FBI about contacts he made with Russian operatives. Mr. Mueller also unveiled a 12-count indictment against Mr. Manafort and Mr. Gates that included charges of money laundering and tax evasion.

Mr. Perez also singled out Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, Kentucky Republican, and House Speaker Paul Ryan, Wisconsin Republican, for criticism, saying their “deafening silence” reminded him of the way Republicans initially responded to the Watergate scandal in the 1970s.

“When you look at the history of Watergate, it took way too long for all too many Republicans to recognize that they need to put country over party,” he said. “If the tables were turned and that had been President Hillary Clinton aided and abetted by the Russians, you’d have articles of impeachment filed probably before the inauguration by the Republicans.”