Questions mount over Trump-Putin discussions
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.
Trump’s closest advisers appear oblivious to what was actually discussed in the meeting with Putin — further fueling questions about what was discussed.
And on Friday, they got another unwelcome distraction unrelated to Russia. News accounts reported that the president’s former attorney and fixer Michael Cohen, who is under federal investigation, taped the president discussing a payment involving Playboy model Karen McDougal, who says she had an affair with Trump.
http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/398126-questions-mount-over-trump-putin-discussions?userid=229233
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