President Donald Trump ignited a firestorm on Capitol Hill following his first summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday.
While that's not rare, this time the political salvos came from both sides of the aisle after Trump stopped far short of condemning Russia's meddling in the 2016 US presidential election and appeared to take Putin's denial at face value.
"My people came to me — Dan Coats came to me, some others — they said they think it's Russia," Trump said, referring to the director of national intelligence during a joint press conference with Putin. "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."
US intelligence agencies and officials, including Coats, have given a scathing assessment of Russia's actions and concluded it used cyberattacks and other means to meddle in the US presidential election. Just three days before the summit, special counsel Robert Mueller also indicted a dozen Russian intelligent officers suspected of interfering with the election.
Trump later backtracked his comments, saying in a tweet that he had "GREAT confidence" in the US intelligence community. But to some lawmakers, his support came too little, too late.
Here's what Republican lawmakers had to say about Trump's remarks:
Sen. John McCain
AP
In a scathing rebuke, Sen. John McCain of Arizona called Trump's press conference "one of the most disgraceful performances by an American president in memory."
"The damage inflicted by President Trump's naiveté, egotism, false equivalence, and sympathy for autocrats is difficult to calculate," McCain said. "But it is clear that the summit in Helsinki was a tragic mistake."
"President Trump proved not only unable, but unwilling to stand up to Putin."
House Speaker Paul Ryan
Aaron P. Bernstein/Reuters
Paul Ryan of Wisconsin agreed with the US intelligence assessment and said "there is no question that Russia interfered in our election and continues attempts to undermine democracy here and around the world."
"There is no moral equivalence between the United States and Russia, which remains hostile to our most basic values and ideals," Ryan added. "The United States must be focused on holding Russia accountable and putting an end to its vile attacks on democracy."
Sen. Lindsey Graham
REUTERS/Brian C. Frank
Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, expressed disappointment in Trump's failure to hold the Kremlin accountable.
"Missed opportunity by President Trump to firmly hold Russia accountable for 2016 meddling and deliver a strong warning regarding future elections," Graham said on Twitter. "This answer by President Trump will be seen by Russia as a sign of weakness and create far more problems than it solves."
See the rest of the story at Business Insider
See Also:
- Trump and Putin met for 2 hours one-on-one, had lunch, and hosted a wild press conference — here are the best photos
- Trump declines to say whether he holds Russia accountable for anything, saying the US has been 'foolish'
- Putin just confirmed he wanted Trump to win the 2016 election
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