POTUS Trusts Putin Over U.S. Intelligence

News  |  Jun 28, 2018

The president of the United States reasserted his belief Thursday morning that Russia did not interfere in the 2016 election because Russian President Vladimir Putin says so.

trump tweet

NYT:

Mr. Trump this week sent his national security adviser, John R. Bolton, to Moscow, where he met on Wednesday with Mr. Putin.

Afterward, an aide to Mr. Putin, Yuri Ushakov, reiterated Moscow’s denial that it tried to influence the United States presidential election in 2016, comments that Mr. Trump cited on Thursday in a Twitter post before the meeting with Mr. Putin was announced.

“Russia continues to say they had nothing to do with Meddling in our Election!” Mr. Trump wrote.

A half hour later, the Kremlin and the White House announced Trump and Putin will meet in Helsinki on July 16th for a bilateral summit that has longstanding U.S. allies concerned

CNN:

[U.S. allies] fear Trump will take a less hawkish position with Russia on issues like the annexation of Crimea and military exercises near the Russian border in eastern Europe.

The summit takes place four days after a NATO meeting in Brussels, where Trump will meet leaders of US military allies. NATO members were worried that if the summit with Putin had taken place earlier, Trump might have agreed to something with the Russian leader that they would have been forced to go along with.

Meanwhile, President Trump's refusal to accept Russia's guilt runs counter to the entire U.S. intelligence community as well as high ranking officials within his own cabinet. 

On Wednesday, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told Congress the president would raise the issue with Putin.

CNN:

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo insisted during a CNN interview this weekend that Trump takes election meddling seriously.

"Make no mistake, President Trump agrees Russia interfering in our election is something they simply cannot do," Pompeo said, referring to the midterm elections. "I don't think he would take any umbrage with that."

Pompeo said on Capitol Hill Wednesday he was "confident that when the President meets with Vladimir Putin, he will make clear that meddling in our elections is completely unacceptable."

Trump's own Thursday morning tweet makes Pompeo's assertion unlikely. 

Members of Congress from both parties had plenty to say about the president's latest denial.

rubio tweet

merkley

warner tweet

Warner's tweet thread continues to say the president can believe Putin or he can believe Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, FBI Director Christopher Wray, NSA Director and head of U.S. Cyber Command General Nakasone, Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis, and the entire Senate Intelligence Committee – all of whom agree Russia interfered in our election. 

A group of Republican Senators traveling to Russia say they plan to address Russian election interference, among other concerns, with government officials they meet. 

ABC News

“Russia has decided to meddle in other countries' elections, including ours. Russia has invaded Ukraine, taken Crimea, it's prolonging the war in Syria. And I'd prefer to be a friend of Russia and that's one of the things we're going to talk about. I would like to respectfully ask the Russians to stay in their own lane,” Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., one of the senators who will be on the trip.

“It's useful for the Russians to know that we are of the belief, evidence is clear, that they intruded in our elections and it will be something I hope that members of Congress convey,” added Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kansas, also noting that senators had planned their trip before the Trump/Putin summit, to be held in Helsinki on July 16, was announced.

Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Richard Shelby (R-AL) organized the congressional delegation and told ABC Thursday he and his colleagues are hoping to meet with Putin and Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, but the meetings are not yet confirmed. Senators Steve Daines (R-MT), John Hoeven (R-ND), and John Thune (R-SD) also are going. 

ABC News:

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., who is not going on the trip but is a top Senate voice on foreign policy issues, said the president would miss a major opportunity if he did not make election interference Topic Number One during the summit.

“If he meets with Putin and he doesn't bring up the elephant in the room about what they've done to undermine democracy here and all over the world, it would be a big mistake,” he said.

He also said he was concerned about the president’s tweet Thursday morning and that he had composed a nonbinding Senate resolution, which he subsequently withdrew, that would have urged the president to challenge Putin’s denial of interference.

“President Trump: When Russia says they didn't, they're lying,” he said.

Helsinki Summit Meeting Is Set for Trump and Putin (NYT)

Trump casts doubt on Russian election meddling ahead of Putin summit (CNN)

Senators visiting Russia say they hope Trump shares their tough message to Putin (ABC News)