Says Russian indictments, Donald Trump still wanted to be friends with Vladimir Putin



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Donald Trump declared that Vladimir Putin should not be considered his enemy, but rather as his rival (Reuters)

Helsinki:

Before embarking on a week of transatlantic diplomacy, President Donald Trump Rosenstein, who planned for the boss an explosive development: the Justice Ministry would soon accuse 12 Russian intelligence officers of hacking Democratic emails to interfere with the 2016 US presidential election.

To the first time, the United States would accuse the Russian government agents of the planning and execution of a sustained cyberattack to disrupt the democratic process of America. Still, Trump gave no sign in his commentary in Europe this week that he appreciated the magnitude of what had been said to him.

Instead, he repeated his frequent attacks against the integrity of the vast investigation conducted by the special advocate. Robert Mueller – while offering kind words for Russian President Vladimir Putin, that he is scheduled to meet here in Helsinki on Monday.

Trump said that Putin should not be considered his enemy, but rather his competitor – and after spending time together In this dynamic seaside Nordic capital, Trump said that he hoped that they could quickly become friends.

Trump pledged to ask Putin in his tete-a-tete if Russia interfered in the elections – "your favorite question about the interference" to a Washington Post reporter. But he said that he expected Putin, once again, to deny it, and that they would then move on to other topics.

"There will be no moment Perry Mason here I do not think" Friday, a few hours before Rosenstein announces the charges of the seat of the Department of Justice in Washington, Trump was found abroad – at a press conference with British Prime Minister Theresa Mai at her Domain Checkers in the English countryside – and denounced the investigation that produced them.

"I would call it the witch hunt faked," Trump said of the Mueller probe, which has so far given rise to accusations 32 Russians and Americans, including the former president Trump campaign Paul Manafort, who is currently in prison.

In the hours following the filing of the Ministry of Justice indictments, lawmakers on both sides immediately called on Trump to force Russia to change course and guard against further intrusion into the United States. future elections.

"These revelations add to a body of evidence confirming a vast plot of Vladimir Putin's government to attack the 2016 election, wreak havoc and dissension among the American electorate, and undermine faith in our democracy, "said Senator John McCain, R-Ariz, in a statement. "If President Trump is not ready to hold Putin accountable, the Helsinki summit should not go ahead."

Some Democrats, including senatorial minority leader Charles E. Schumer (NY), say Trump should immediately cancel his Helsinki summit with Putin. "The signing of Vladimir Putin in the wake of these charges would be an insult to our democracy," Schumer said in a statement

. "Unfortunately, because of your constant expressions of sympathy for Vladimir Putin, your conflicts of interest and your attacks on our closest allies, we are not sure that you can negotiate faithfully with the Russian leader, and we ask you to cancel the meeting. "

But as night fell on Friday in the United Kingdom, where Trump stayed over the weekend, neither the president nor his White House spokesmen condemned him. Russia for the allegations detailed in the indictments.And the meeting in Helsinki was still in progress.

When a reporter asked him what he would do if Putin denies the involvement of Russia, Trump said, "He can deny it." I mean, it's one of those things I can do, that is, "Do you?" and "Do not do it again."

There was no indication on Friday that Trump was preparing to say something else in their meeting for hold Putin accountable.

Joyce Vance, who served as American lawyer in Alabama during the Obama administration, said Trump's apparent indifference to the electoral attack is "shocking".

"Cyberspace is the new front of the war and our country has been attacked, but instead of treating it as the real moment of Pearl Harbor, the president just wants to continue as if nothing had happened." Vance said:

Announce the indictment, Rosenstein lamented the extent to which the Russian probe divided Americans on partisan lines. "19659004" When we face foreign interference in US elections, is important to avoid thinking politically. Republicans or Democrats and instead of thinking patriotically as Americans, "said Rosenstein." The blame for electoral interference belongs to criminals who have committed electoral interference We must work together to hold the culprits accountable. "

US intelligence agencies concluded in October 2016 that Russia was orchestrating the hacking of Democratic e-mails – as well as other tactics, including a campaign to infiltrate social media with fake news – and that the Russian operation was explicitly designed to help Trump defeat Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton 19659004] Emails, some of which were salacious and harmful to Clinton, were unlawfully broadcast by WikiLeaks and Trump often discussed their content in his speeches. "I love WikiLeaks," he told a Pennsylvania crowd, and a few days later, in Florida, he said, "It tells you the inner heart, you have to read it."

For many months, Trump refused to believe that Russia was behind pirated emails

. in town, it is that Russia has leaked disastrous e-mails from DNC, which should never have been written, because Putin likes me, "Trump tweeted in July 2016. [19659004] During one of his fall debates with Clinton, Trump sought to sow doubt that the Russians were behind the piracy by suggesting that it could have been done by the Chinese or by "somebody". sitting on their bed weighing 400 pounds. "

This is only after winning the election, at a press conference shortly before his inauguration, Trump said publicly that Russia had committed the hacking, although it has let itself go into its public statements since then.

Trump's advisers said they did not recognize the electoral interference because it did not want to attribute his electoral victory to any force other than his ski

Trump and his legal team, led by l & # 3 9, former New York Mayor Rudi Giuliani, have aggressively attacked the Mueller investigation in recent months as part of a more combative approach aimed in part at knocking out Trump's loyal supporters against her. sow doubt in its possible conclusions.

Trump regularly tweets the phrase "witch hunt" – sometimes spelled spelled out – captal – to vent from Mueller's operation or to mobilize his supporters against it. But Democrats say that he does not take the investigation seriously.

John D. Podesta, the former president of the Clinton campaign whose personal account was hacked, told ABC News: "Donald Trump likes to describe this as a witch hunt." Well, we just found witches and they were charged. "

(Except for the title, this story was not published by the NDTV staff and is published from the beginning. a syndicated feed.)

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