The Hill News

Rep. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) criticized Friday the administration's decision to send Russian spies back to their home country, according to the AP.

"In all likelihood, we did not hold them long enough to find out all the things we could have found out about the 10 years or more they were in the United States working undercover -- what contacts they made, who might still be working in some capacity," Blunt said.

He added that the administration sent a message that it is soft on spying.

"We certainly showed there wasn't much of a price to pay to be a Russian spy in the United States for a decade," Blunt said.

Blunt is a candidate for Senate. His opponent, Robin Carnahan, suggested that his remarks were inappropriate.

"I think it wo! uld be pretty irresponsible of me to second-guess, without information, the decisions our top intelligence agencies made about this," Carnahan told the AP.