WHO’S YOUR VLADDY!
Groveling Trump invites Putin to the White House
Just days after making a horse’s ass of himself in Finland, President Trump invited Russian President Vladimir Putin to saddle up and come visit the White House in the fall for some followup fawning and drooling.
The White House on Thursday walked back President Trump's exuberant endorsement of a bizarre proposal made by Russian President Vladimir Putin.
White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders issued a statement saying Trump now disagrees with Putin's offer to assist in the ongoing U.S. investigation into election interference in exchange for the ability to question Americans, including the former ambassador to Russia.
Trump said the Russia strongman had made “an incredible offer” after the pair met face to face in Helsinki, Finland, for a oneon-one summit.
Putin “offered to have the people working on the case come and work with their investigators, with respect to the 12 people. I think that's an incredible offer,” Trump added.
Putin said he'd allow members of special counsel Robert Mueller's team into Russia to view questioning of the 12 Russian military members indicted last week in connection with the hacking of the Democratic National Committee ahead of the 2016 presidential election.
In exchange, he asked that Russian operatives be allowed into the U.S. to investigate allegations against financier and vocal Putin critic Bill Browder — whom he falsely accused of funneling $400 million in donations to Hillary Clinton's campaign — as well as Michael McFaul, the former ambassador.
Sanders said the offer was made “in sincerity,” adding a less-than-forceful rebuke to the proposal, which was decried by the intelligence community and diplomats past and present.
“It is a proposal that was made in sincerity by President Putin, but President Trump disagrees with it,” she said. “Hopefully, President Putin will have the 12 identified Russians come to the United States to prove their innocence or guilt.”
It was unclear what changed since Sanders was asked about the proposal a day earlier and offered little insight into the President's thinking.
“There was some conversation about it, but there wasn't a commitment made on behalf of the United
States,” Sanders said Wednesday. “The President will work with his team, and we'll let you know if there's an announcement on that front.”
Mueller is probing Moscow-led interference with the 2016 election and looking at whether anyone related to Trump's campaign coordinated with the Kremlin.
Putin has denied his government's part in the plot, and Trump has repeatedly called the investigation a “witch hunt.”
The fact that the Trump administration appeared to be even considering Putin's offer drew heated criticism and condemnation.
McFaul told The Wall Street Journal he is “deeply disappointed that the White House had the chance to denounce this crazy invented tale about U.S. government officials being somehow involved in breaking Russian laws and decided not to do so.”
The White House about-face came as the Senate overwhelmingly approved a resolution by Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) telling the President not to honor Putin's request. The resolution was approved 98-0 as Sens. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Richard Shelby (R-Ala.) were absent.
The flip-flopping follows a number of stunning corrections made in the wake of the Trump-Putin summit.
Trump faced intense condemnation after failing to publicly confront Putin over the election interference and appearing to question the U.S. intelligence community's findings that Russia attempted to aid Trump's chances of winning the White House.
The President claimed he misspoke while in Finland. After the first walk-back, the White House was forced to save face again after Trump appeared to contradict his top officials on whether Russia is still targeting the U.S.
Democrats and some members of Trump's own party have openly criticized him for accepting Putin's denials at face value. Some Dems are pushing for Congress to subpoena the interpreter who was in the room with Trump and Putin to find out what transpired during the private meeting.