The following article by Felicia Sonmez and Mike DeBonis was posted on the Washington Post website July 16, 2018:
Both President Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke about Russian interference in U.S. elections at a news conference on July 16 in Helsinki. (The Washington Post)
Republicans rallied Monday to defend the U.S. intelligence community after President Trump placed more credibility in Russian President Vladimir Putin’s pronouncements than the work of U.S. spy agencies.
Wary of challenging the top Republican, however, many stopped short of criticizing Trump himself or advocating concrete action against Russia for its interference in the 2016 presidential election.
At a joint news conference with Putin in Helsinki, which took place after the first formal one-on-one summit between the two leaders, Trump refused to back the conclusion of U.S. intelligence of Russian interference and attacked the probe being led by special counsel Robert S. Mueller III as “a disaster for our country.”
View the complete article on the Washington Post website here.