Before he embarked on a week of transatlantic diplomacy, President Trump sat down with Deputy Attorney General Rod J. Rosenstein, who previewed for the boss an explosive development: The Justice Department would soon indict 12 Russian intelligence officers for hacking Democratic emails to interfere with the 2016 U.S. presidential election.
For the first time, the United States would be charging Russian government agents with planning and executing a sustained cyberattack to disrupt America’s democratic process. Yet Trump gave no sign in his commentary in Europe this week that he appreciated the magnitude of what he had been told was coming.
Instead, he repeated his frequent attacks on the integrity of the wide-ranging Russia probe led by special counsel Robert S. Mueller III — while offering kind words for Russian President Vladimir Putin, who he is slated to meet here in Helsinki on Monday.
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Trump pledged to ask Putin in their tete-a-tete whether Russia interfered in the election — “your favorite question about meddling,” he said mockingly to a Washington Post reporter. But he said he expected Putin, again, to deny it, and that they then would move on to other subjects.
“There won’t be a Perry Mason moment here, I don’t think,” Trump joked, referring to a witness dramatically reversing his or her testimony to confess a crime.
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On Friday, just hours before Rosenstein announced the indictments from Justice Department headquarters in Washington, Trump stood on foreign soil — at a news conference with British Prime Minister Theresa May at her Chequers estate in the English countryside — and denounced the investigation that produced them.
“I would call it the rigged witch hunt,” Trump said of the Mueller probe, which so far has yielded charges or guilty pleas against 32 Russians and Americans, including former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort, who is in jail.
In the hours after the Justice Department’s indictments were filed, lawmakers from both parties urgently called on Trump to confront Putin, force Russia to change course and guard against another intrusion in future elections.
“These revelations add to a body of evidence confirming an extensive plot by Vladimir Putin’s government to attack the 2016 election, sow chaos and dissension among the American electorate, and undermine faith in our democracy,” Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) said in a statement. “If President Trump is not prepared to hold Putin accountable, the summit in Helsinki should not move forward.”
Some Democrats, including Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (N.Y.), said Trump should immediately cancel his Helsinki summit with Putin.
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When he was asked Thursday by a reporter what he would do if Putin denies Russia’s involvement, Trump said, “He may deny it. I mean, it’s one of those things. So all I can do is say, ‘Did you?’ and ‘Don’t do it again.’”
There was no indication late Friday that Trump was preparing to say anything else in their meeting to hold Putin accountable.
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Announcing the indictments, Rosenstein bemoaned the extent to which the Russia probe has divided Americans along partisan lines.
“When we confront foreign interference in American elections, it is important for us to avoid thinking politically as Republicans or Democrats and instead to think patriotically as Americans,” Rosenstein said. “The blame for election interference belongs to the criminals
who committed election interference. We need to work together to hold the perpetrators accountable.”
Read More: After being told of Russia indictments, Trump still aspired to be friends with Putin (Washington Post)