-- Rep. Chris Smith, going where President Donald Trump has refused to, pressed Russian officials Saturday on their interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election.

Smith, who led the 13-member U.S. delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, and other U.S. lawmakers met for close to two hours with Russian legislators in Berlin. The meeting lasted almost twice as long as originally scheduled.

The New Jersey lawmaker said he brought up the Russian meddling. U.S. intelligence agencies and the Senate Intelligence Committee have concluded that Russia intervened in the presidential election on behalf of Trump.

Updated Jul 8, 12:45 AM; Posted Jul 7

He said the Russians insisted that any intrusions were the work of hackers, not the government. Smith called the response "weak."

"It was something we need to press every time even if we get what I thought was a really weak response," he said. "The fact is our services believe it was an intentional and pervasive effort by the Russians. They can do it again and again and again."

Smith said it was important to put all of the issues on the table during such a meeting, lest the Russians thought the election meddling was not important.

"I felt it was important to be absolutely candid, forceful yet diplomatic, and to insure that no issue was left unengaged," he said. "They take their cues from omission. We put everything on the agenda."

During their talk, Smith said he also pressed Russia on its continued occupation of Crimea in the Ukraine, its role in the Syrian civil war, and human trafficking. He challenged the Russian officials to give him a long-sought visa to visit the country to discuss trafficking.

Smith on Sunday will poke the Russians by hosting an event with Zhanna Nemtsova, the daughter of murdered Russian opposition leader Boris Nemtsov.

"It is the tip of the iceberg on how political opposition is treated," Smith said. "They're threatened in some way, they're incarcerated or they're dead."