Tag: Vladimir Putin

Questions mount over Trump-Putin discussions

The following article by Morgan Chalfant was posted on the Hill website July 20, 2018:

Credit: Yuri Kadobnova, AFP/Getty Images

The White House is facing mounting pressure to disclose details of President Trump’s discussions with Russian President Vladimir Putin from this week’s summit in Helsinki.

The one-on-one meeting between the two leaders has been shrouded in controversy ever since Trump, standing beside Putin following the meeting, cast doubt on the U.S. intelligence community’s assessment of Russian interference in the election in favor of Putin’s own denials.

Trump administration officials have said little specifically about any agreements reached or proposals made during the meeting.

Instead, they’ve had to bat down queries about whether Trump was going to go along with a Putin plan to have Russian officials interview U.S. citizens, including former U.S. Ambassador to Russia Michael McFaul. Putin also floated the possibility of a referendum to determine whether Crimea would be part of Ukraine and Russia, an idea the administration did not immediately shoot down.

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Democrats Press GOP for Quick Legislative Response on Russia

The following article by Rachel Oswald was posted on the Roll Call website July 20, 2018:

Several measures in both chambers designed to push back on Putin

Protesters participate in a candlelight vigil in front of the White House protesting President Trump in the wake of his meeting with Russian President Putin. Credit: Sarah Silbiger, CQ Roll Call

House and Senate Democrats are pressuring their Republican colleagues to bring to the floor legislation introduced in response to President Donald Trump’s comments — and revisions to those comments — this week on Russian interference in U.S. elections.

Democratic House leaders released a bipartisan package that includes 17 previously introduced bills that would further restrict the White House’s foreign policy and economic options when it comes to Moscow.

The package (HR 6437) has two Republican cosponsors, including Rep. Elise Stefanik of New York, who is chairwoman of the House Armed Services Emerging Threats and Capabilities Subcommittee. Stefanik, who quickly emerged as a leader on the Armed Services panel, includes cyber in her subcommittee’s portfolio.

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White House defends Putin for asking Trump to hand over US citizens

The following article by Kaili Joy Gray was posted on the ShareBlue.com website July 19, 2018:

National outrage and horror forced Trump to reverse himself and say he will not hand U.S. citizens over to Russia for interrogation. And yet, the White House is still praising and defending Putin for asking.

Trump horrified the country when he said he was considering Russian dictator Vladimir Putin’s request for Trump to hand over top U.S. diplomats for interrogation.

Now the White House is belatedly saying Trump “disagrees” with it.

“It is a proposal that was made in sincerity by President Putin, but President Trump disagrees with it,” White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said in a statement Thursday. “Hopefully President Putin will have the 12 identified Russians come to the United States to prove their innocence or guilt.”

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Trump demoralizes his own team with dizzying Russian moves

The following article by Jordan Fabian and Morgan Chalfant was posted on the Hill website July 20, 2018:

Andrea Mitchell and Dan Coats Credit: ABC Screen Capture

President Trump’s bungled effort to warm up to Russian President Vladimir Putin has driven a wedge between him and his own administration as it seeks to crack down on Moscow’s hostile activities.

Rank-and-file intelligence and national security officials feel demoralized by the president’s failure to publicly call out Putin for interfering in the 2016 election, according to sources inside and outside the federal government.

“It’s just another day in paradise,” said one former White House official, who requested anonymity to speak candidly. “Russia narratives have been a daily ordeal for two years. Nobody knows what the president will do or say and nobody knows what they don’t know.”

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Trump’s very bad, very weak week

The following article by Aaron Blake was posted on the Washington Post website July 20, 2018:

Over the course of three days, President Trump commented on Russian election interference in ways that repeatedly contradicted his own intelligence officials. (Video: Peter Stevenson/Photo: Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post)

Update: And now Trump, apparently unbowed, wants to invite Putin to Washington.

For the third time this week, President Trump has been forced to walk back something he said about Russia. First it was comparing his own intelligence community’s credibility to Vladimir Putin’s. Then it was his statement that Russia wasn’t still interfering in U.S. elections. And now it’s his apparent plan to allow Russia to interview Americans it accuses of crimes, including a former ambassador.

It was all one giant, self-inflicted wound. And it all did precisely what Putin hopes and what Trump seems to fear most: made Trump look weak and ineffectual.

The White House finally shot down that last idea Thursday afternoon — three days after Trump called it an “incredible offer” and nearly a full day after White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders inflamed congressional allies and even the State Department by suggesting it could actually come to fruition.

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Republicans Block Anti-Putin Resolutions Before Senate Approves One Rebuke Image

The following article by Nicholas Fandos and Sheryl Gay Stolberg was posted on the New York Times website July 19, 2018:

WASHINGTON — Republicans in Congress on Thursday blocked a series of measures put forward by lawmakers — largely Democratic — desperate to isolate Republican leaders and publicly rebuke President Trump over his summit meeting with President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia this week.

In the Senate, Republicans objected to two nonbinding measures that would have put the body on record as being in support of intelligence agency conclusions that Russia interfered in the 2016 election, called on Mr. Trump to fully impose sanctions against Russia and pressed for oversight of the summit meeting, including the production of any notes taken by Americans.

“If ever there was a moment to think not of just your party but for the country, this is it,” Senator Jeff Flake, Republican of Arizona, implored his colleagues before his bipartisan resolution was shot down.

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Putin appears to be targeting U.S. officials who worked on Russia sanctions

The following article by Carol Morello, Tom Hamburger and John Hudson was posted on the Washington Post website July 19, 2018:

Former US ambassador to Russia Michael McFaul, shown in 2013 at the Foreign Ministry in Moscow. Credit: Misha Japaridze, AP

Almost from the day he arrived in Moscow as the U.S. ambassador in 2012, Michael McFaul and his family were subjected to a campaign of surveillance and harassment.

According to McFaul’s book “From Cold War to Hot Peace,” Russian authorities followed him to his son’s soccer game and on outings to McDonald’s. They trailed his children’s bus to school and sat behind the family at church. They slashed the tires of an embassy staffer’s car and broke into the homes of other employees. Continue reading “Putin appears to be targeting U.S. officials who worked on Russia sanctions”

‘That’s going to be special’: Tensions rise as Trump invites Putin to Washington

The following article by Shane Harris, Felicia Sonmez and John Wagner was posted on the Washington Post website July 19, 2018:

The White House announced Thursday that Vladimir Putin has been invited to Washington this fall, even as leaders in Washington tried to fully understand what happened when President Trump and the Russian leader met earlier this week in Helsinki.

White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders announced the planned visit in a tweet, saying that national security adviser John Bolton extended the invitation and that “discussions are already underway.”

As the late afternoon tweet landed, Director of National Intelligence Daniel Coats was on stage at the Aspen Security Forum in the middle of an interview with NBC’s Andrea Mitchell, who broke the news to him. Coats, clearly surprised, took a deep breath.

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Senate approves resolution warning Trump not to hand over US officials

The following article by Jordain Carney was posted on the Hill website July 19, 2018:

The Senate on Thursday unanimously approved a resolution warning President Trump not to let the Russian government question diplomats and other officials, shortly after the White House released a statement backpedaling on a proposal to allow Moscow to help interrogate U.S. citizens such as former Ambassador Michael McFaul.

Senators voted 98-0 on the resolution spearheaded by Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Democratic Sens. Bob Menendez(N.J.), Dick Durbin (Ill.) and Brian Schatz (Hawaii).

“That President Trump would even consider handing over a former U.S. ambassador to Putin and his cronies for interrogation is bewildering. …This body must agree on the importance of protecting our ambassadors. We should pass it today, not wait, not show any equivocation,” Schumer said ahead of the vote, which was scheduled before the White House backtracked.

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White House: Trump ‘disagrees’ with Putin’s request to question Americans

The following article by Brett Samuels was posted on the Hill website July 19, 2018:

The White House on Thursday backed off a proposal from Russian President Vladimir Putin to question U.S. citizens over alleged crimes in Russia after initially indicating President Trump would consider the matter.

“It is a proposal that was made in sincerity by President Putin, but President Trump disagrees with it,” press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said in a statement. “Hopefully President Putin will have the 12 identified Russians come to the United States to prove their innocence or guilt.”

The White House response comes after almost 24 hours of criticism from Democrats, Republicans and former diplomats that added to the hailstorm of criticism Trump has received over his meeting with Putin in Helsinki earlier this week.

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