Contradicting U.S. intelligence agencies, President Donald Trump on Saturday said he believes Russian President Vladimir Putin's claim that the Kremlin did not attempt to interfere in the 2016 election.
Trump spoke with the Russian leader this week in Vietnam during a joint summit with other Asia-Pacific countries. When a reporter asked if the subject of Russian election interference came up, Trump replied, "He said he absolutely did not meddle in our election. He did not do what they are saying he did. ... Every time he sees me, he says, 'I did not do that,' and I really believe that when he tells me that, he means it. But he says, 'I did not do that.' "
Trump also took multiple shots at his 2016 rival Hillary Clinton and lamented that Putin is" very insulted "by the accusations of election meddling.
<p class = "canvas-atom canvas-text Mb (1.0em) Mb (0) - sm Mt (0.8em) - sm" type = "text" content = "The president's comments fly in the face of a report from & nbsp; US intelligence agencies earlier this year that concluded that [Putri had ordered hacking against the Democratic National Committee to help Trump get elected. subject of multiple federal investigations into whether the Trump campaign is coordinated with Russia at all, which the president has strongly denied. & nbsp; & nbsp; " data-reactid = "19"> The president's comments fly in the face of a report from U.S. intelligence agencies earlier this year that concluded that [Putri had ordered hacking against the Democratic National Committee to help Trump get elected. The hacking is a subject of multiple federal investigations into whether the Trump campaign coordinated with Russia at all, which the president has strongly denied.
Trump told reporters on Saturday that he was skeptical of the intelligence findings and spoke dismissively of several former top Obama officers with long careers in public service.
"You hear it's 17 agencies [who agreed on the hacking]. Well, it's three, "he said. "And one is [then-CIA Director John] Brennan. And one is, whatever. I mean, give me a break. They're political hacks. So you look at it, and then you have Brennan, you have [then-Director of National Intelligence James] Clapper and you have [then-FBI Director James] Comey. Comey's proven now to be a wild and he's proven to be a leaker. So you look at that. "
<p class =" canvas-atom canvas-text Mb (1.0em) Mb (0) - sm Mt (0.8em) - sm "type =" text "content =" It is worth noting that the number of intelligence agencies involved : the CIA, the National Security Agency, the FBI and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence As the New York Times pointed out in July, & nbsp; it's not problematic that the remaining agencies did not report similar findings because "not all 17 were involved in the assessment of Russian interference." & Nbsp; " data-reactid = "22"> It is worth noting that the number of intelligence agencies involved : the CIA, the National Security Agency, the FBI and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. As The New York Times pointed out in July, it's not problematic that the remaining agencies did not report similar findings because it was not all 17 were involved in the assessment of Russian interference.
<p class = "canvas-atoms canvas-text Mb (1.0em) Mb (0) - sm Mt (0.8em) - sm" type = "text" content = "Putin for the hacking and even & nbsp; told reporters & nbsp; in July that he believes "other countries" besides Russia were involved. missed a key deadline to implement new sanctions on Russia in response to the hacking, sanctions that were set forth in a bipartisan bill that he'd signed into law in August. Weeks later, Foreign Policy reported that the State Department had shuttered the office that deals with sanctions policy . " data-reactid = "23"> Trump has largely refused to blame Putin for the hacking and even told reporters in July that he believes "other countries" besides Russia were involved. Early last month he to implement new sanctions on Russia in response to the hacking Weeks later, that the State Department had shuttered the office that deals with sanctions policy.
<p class = "canvas-atom canvas-text Mb (1.0em) Mb (0) - -mom Mt (0.8em) - sm "type =" text "content =" Meanwhile, evidence is mounting that some in Trump's campaign had ties to the Kremlin. "Last month, former campaign manager Paul Manafort along with his business associate Rick Gates [1945907] was originally, it was revealed that a former Trump adviser, & nbsp; George Papadopoulos had pleaded guilty in early October to lying to FBI about his efforts to receive "dirt" on Clinton. " data-reactid = "24"> Meanwhile, the evidence is mounting that some in Trump's campaign had ties to the Kremlin. Last month, former campaign manager Paul Manafort along with his business associate Rick Gates was indicted by a grand jury in connection with the investigation. At the same time, it was revealed that a former Trump adviser, George Papadopoulos had pleaded guilty in early October to lying to FBI about his efforts to receive "dirt" on Clinton.
<p class = "canvas-atom canvas-text Mb (1.0em) Mb (0) - sm Mt (0.8em) - sm" type = "text" content = " The story has been updated with additional comment from President Trump "story-reactid =" 25 "> The story has been updated with additional comments from President Trump.
- This article originally appeared on HuffPost .
