Trump sides with Putin on Russia investigation denial
President slams Mueller, blames U.S. for tensions with Moscow
HELSINKI — President Donald Trump slammed the special counsel’s investigation into his campaign’s possible election collusion with Russia and, with Russian President Vladimir Putin alongside him at a news conference Monday, seemed to accept Putin’s denials of wrongdoing over the unanimous conclusions of U.S. intelligence officials.
The president also blamed the United States for relations with Moscow that he said have “never been worse.” He added, “However, that changed as of about four hours ago” — referring to his meeting with Putin at Finland’s presidential palace.
When Trump was asked by a U.S. reporter whether he believes Putin or his own intelligence officials, who unanimously say Russia did intervene for Trump, he
replied by criticizing the FBI for not doing enough to probe Democrats.
“My people came to me,” Trump said, speaking of intelligence officials including director of national intelligence Dan Coats, and “They said they think it’s Russia. I have President Putin. He just said it’s not Russia. I will say this: I don’t see any reason why it would be.”
Coats, a former Republican senator who warned Friday that the United States “is literally under attack” by Russian cyberthreats, felt compelled to issue a statement standing by U.S. intelligence agencies in the face of the president’s skepticism:
“We have been clear in our assessments of Russian meddling in the 2016 election and their ongoing, pervasive efforts to undermine our democracy, and we will continue to provide unvarnished and objective intelligence in support of our national security.”
The president repeatedly condemned the FBI and the probe of special counsel Robert Mueller, which on Friday brought indictments of 12 Russian intelligence officials. He called it “a disaster for our country.”
Putin claimed to be unfamiliar with what he called the “alleged intelligence officers” but offered, as his counter to calls in Washington to extradite them to the United States, to allow Russian authorities to interrogate them for Mueller, along with U.S. investigators. In turn, Putin said, Russia would get American assistance with cases of interest to Moscow.
Trump called Putin’s idea “an incredible offer.”
Trump, in his remarks, spoke about his clear Electoral College win over Hillary Clinton and lamented the “cloud” the investigation has cast over his victory. When Putin was asked why Americans should believe his denials, Trump first answered for him, falsely saying that the Russia probe came about only because Democrats were looking for an excuse for their loss.
Putin, in turn, offered his own, somewhat surreal response to the question that had been intended for him.
“As for who to believe, who you can’t believe, can you believe at all — you can’t believe anyone,” Putin said, dismissing the U.S. intelligence findings and the Mueller probe as based on “rumors.” He added, “There’s no evidence when it comes to the actual facts.”
Putin did not shy away from the question of whether he wanted Trump to win the 2016 election.
“Yes, I did,” he said, as Trump smiled beside him. “Yes, I did. Because he talked about bringing the U.S.-Russia relationship back to normal.”
Putin, again in answer to a U.S. reporter’s question, did not directly deny that Russia had compromising material on Trump, but instead deflected.
He said he had heard “these rumors” that Moscow had gathered embarrassing material while Trump was there in 2013 and added that people should “disregard” them.
Trump interjected, “If they had it, it would have been out long ago.”
Even as Trump expressed no concern about Russia, the Justice Department announced new charges against a Russian woman, Mariia Butina, for conspiracy to act as an unregistered foreign agent. The indictment was not brought by Mueller.
An affidavit described Russia as “one of the leading state intelligence threats to U.S. interests,” and said Butina cultivated ties with an unnamed gunrights organization and a political party, which appeared to be the National Rifle Association and the Republican Party. At one point she mentioned opening “a back channel of communication” between the two countries, the affidavit said.
A lawyer for Butina, Robert Driscoll, said the charge is “overblown” and she “has been cooperating with various government entities for months.”
Earlier, Trump declared a “very good start” to his meetings with Putin after they were alone for about two hours, longer than the 90 minutes allotted.
Typically at such summits, the leaders have at least one senior adviser and an official note-taker; Putin came to the session with a notepad and pen, while Trump seemed empty-handed.
Before their private session, Trump said to Putin, offering his hand, “We have a lot of questions, and hopefully we’ll come up with answers. It’s great to be with you.”
He said they would discuss trade, nuclear weapons and China, making no mention of Russia’s interference in the U.S. election, the poisoning of people in Britain by a Russian nerve agent or the conflicts in Ukraine and Syria, where Russia has allegedly committed war crimes.
“We have not been getting along,” Trump said, “but I think we will end up having an extraordinary relationship.”
Putin said little, offering a more casual, almost indifferent demeanor as Trump spoke. He said he looked forward to “continuing the dialogue we have started.”
In their opening remarks at the news conference, both men expressed optimism that the summit offered a fresh start to improve their countries’ relationship and allow them to cooperatively resolve problems including Syria’s civil war, nuclear proliferation and issues of international oil and gas commerce.
Putin credited Trump for engaging with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un but criticized him for withdrawing the United States from the 2015 Iran nuclear agreement.