Trump To Meet With Putin Defender Rep. Dana Rohrabacher Today

Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, R-Calif. speaks during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, Nov. 13, 2013 to discuss marijuana laws. Members of Congress from states with legal pot are banding together to... Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, R-Calif. speaks during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, Nov. 13, 2013 to discuss marijuana laws. Members of Congress from states with legal pot are banding together to tell their colleagues on Capitol Hill not to interfere with state drug laws. (AP Photo/Lauren Victoria Burke) MORE LESS
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President Donald Trump is scheduled to meet Tuesday afternoon with Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA), a lawmaker so well known for defending Russia and Vladimir Putin that he’s been dubbed “Putin’s favorite congressman.”

It’s not clear what the two Republicans are set to discuss in the Oval Office.

Rohrabacher, who’s fondly recalled the time he arm-wrestled Putin in the ’90s, has pushed for a better relationship between the United States and Russia and praised Trump for his comments about Russia.

He’s also dismissed concerns that Russia meddled in the 2016 U.S. election.

“Did they try to influence our election? We have tried to influence their elections, and everybody’s elections,” he told the Los Angeles Times. “The American people are being fed information that would lead them to believe that we need to be in a war-like stance when it comes to Russia.”

Rohrabacher was planning earlier this year for a congressional delegation to visit Russia, though it’s unclear whether the trip is happening.

“We’re going to look at certain goals we can set with our Congress and the Duma,” he told the Washington Post in January. “What could we actually set in the legislature of Russia and in Congress? Could we work together, for example, and cooperate on space activities?”

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