President Joe Biden previously said Russian President Vladimir Putin would face “devastating” consequences if opposition leader Alexei Navalny were to die in prison.
On Friday, Russian news media announced that 47-year-old Navalny had died while serving a sentence in a Siberian prison – something that has not been unilaterally confirmed by the US government.
The president did not immediately respond to the news, but members of his administration and Democratic members of Congress went after Russian President Vladimir Putin as they spoke about Navalny’s death.
Vice President Kamala Harris addressed Navalny’s death during her appearance Friday at the Munich Security Conference.
“If confirmed, it would be a further sign of Putin’s brutality,” the vice president said. “Whatever story they tell, let’s be clear: Russia is responsible.”
Vice President Kamala Harris responded to the death of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny during an appearance at the Munich Security Conference on Friday
A photo of Alexei Navalny from 2021. Navalny’s death has yet to be verified by the US government, but White House officials and Democratic members of Congress are already responding
President Joe Biden (right) said he told Russian President Vladimir (left) during their June 2021 meeting that there would be “devastating” consequences if Navalny were to die in prison
Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Navalny’s death in a Russian prison and one man’s fixation and fear only underscored the weakness and decay at the core of the system Putin built.
“Russia is responsible for this,” Blinken said.
National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan was interviewed on NPR Friday morning when the news broke.
“If it is confirmed, it will be a terrible tragedy. And given the Russian government’s long and sordid history of harming its adversaries, this raises real and obvious questions about what happened here,” Sullivan said.
Senator Mark Warner of Virginia wrote on X Firiday that “Alexei Navalny’s death is yet another heartbreaking reminder of who Vladimir Putin is: a bloodthirsty tyrant who thinks he can get away with anything.”
“It’s one more reason why we must continue to stand with the cause of freedom in opposition to Putin’s brutality,” the Virginia Democrat said.
Several congressional Democrats responded by also pressuring Republicans.
“Putin kills Navalny the same week that Donald Trump invites Russia to invade Europe and MAGA Mike Johnson blocks aid to Ukraine,” said Rep. Eric Swalwell, a California Democrat. “This is not a coincidence, it is the green light that Putin has been given.”
Former President Donald Trump, the likely Republican nominee, raised eyebrows when he said at a rally on Saturday that during his presidency he told NATO leaders he would “encourage” Russia “to do whatever they want” against members who didn’t. I don’t pay enough money to the alliance.
Democrats in Congress responded to the news by lashing out at Russian President Vladimir Putin — but also pointed to recent comments from former Republican President Donald Trump and encouraged Republicans in the House of Representatives to pass a bill to finance Ukraine’s war effort.
In addition, Republican Speaker of the House of Representatives Mike Johnson has so far declined to bring to the House of Representatives a Senate-passed supplemental spending bill that would provide additional funding for Ukraine’s war effort against Russia.
“More blood on Putin’s hand with the tragic death of Aleksei Navalny in prison, all because of the ‘crime’ of wanting a free Russia,” Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin wrote to appease this Russian tyrant?’ Durbin asked.
Rep. Bill Pascrell, a New Jersey Democrat, echoed his fellow Democrats’ comments about Trump in an X-post about Navalny.
“Mass murder war criminal Vladimir Putin has murdered one of his most courageous critics,” Pascrell wrote Friday morning. “Reminder that Donald Trump openly encouraged Putin to attack America’s allies and Republicans are blocking aid to Ukraine.”
Rep. David Trone, a Maryland Democrat, wrote to X that Navalny’s death should motivate Congress to pass the Ukraine financing bill.
“Reports of Alexei Navalny’s death in a Russian prison are a stark reminder of the brutal repression that Vladimir Putin is willing to use to suppress political opposition and treat millions of innocent people as pawns in his own chess game,” Trone said.
“Americans and our allies must immediately provide essential military and humanitarian assistance to enable Ukraine to successfully combat the Russian invasion, protect its citizens, and defend its democracy,” he added.
At a press conference in June 2021, after Biden met Putin at a summit in Geneva, the president was asked what he told Putin would happen if Navalny died in prison.
The 47-year-old opposition leader was serving a 19-year prison sentence on charges of extremism.
“I made it clear to him that I believe the consequences of that would be devastating for Russia,” Biden said at the time.
