United States President Donald Trump rejected Russian
President Vladimir Putin's proposal that Russian authorities be allowed to
question American citizens, the White House said on Thursday, after the offer
drew fierce criticism in the United States.
The Republican president then directed his national security
adviser, John Bolton, to invite Putin to Washington in the fall, the White
House said, four days after Trump held a summit with the Russian leader in
Helsinki.
"President Trump asked @Ambjohnbolton to invite
President Putin to Washington in the fall and those discussions are already
underway," White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said in a Twitter post.
Following their summit on Monday, Putin described the
proposal when he was asked about the possible extradition of 12 Russian
intelligence officers indicted in the United States on charges of meddling in
the 2016 presidential election.
Putin indicated he would permit American law enforcement
officials to observe questioning by Russian officials of the indicted Russians
in exchange for letting Russian investigators question Americans on other
matters, mentioning London-based financier Bill Browder, a onetime investor in
Russia. Trump on Monday called Putin's idea "an incredible offer."
"It is a proposal that was made in sincerity by
President Putin, but President Trump disagrees with it," Sanders said in a
statement on earlier Thursday. "Hopefully President Putin will have the 12
identified Russians come to the United States to prove their innocence or
guilt."
The White House issued that statement as the U.S. Senate
prepared to vote on a resolution expressing congressional opposition to
allowing any U.S. officials to be questioned by Russia. In a rebuke, the Senate
- controlled by Trump's fellow Republicans - went on to unanimously approve the
resolution.
It was the latest about-face from the White House as it
struggled to quiet an uproar over Trump's failure to confront Putin over
Russian meddling in the 2016 election. The White House had said on Wednesday
that Trump was considering the proposal, drawing a barrage of criticism from
Republicans and Democrats.
Trump on Tuesday said he misspoke during a joint news
conference in Helsinki when he said he did not see why Russia would meddle in
the election. On Wednesday, Trump answered "no" to a reporter's
question on whether Russia was still targeting the United States, only to have
Sanders say hours later he was saying "no" to answering any questions
- not to the question itself.
On Wednesday, the Russian Prosecutor General's office listed
Americans it wanted to question for "illegal activities," including
Michael McFaul, who was U.S. ambassador to Russia under Democratic former
President Barack Obama.
"That's not going to happen," U.S. Secretary of
State Mike Pompeo told CBN News on Thursday.
"No president should have the power to gift-wrap
American citizens, let alone former ambassadors, to our known
adversaries," top Senate Democrat Chuck Schumer said before introducing
the resolution.
"I don't think there is one member of Congress, on
either side of the aisle, that believes it is remotely smart to require our
former ambassador, Mr. Browder or any other person to submit to interviews by
Putin's government," Republican Senator Lindsey Graham told reporters
Thursday morning.
'GREAT SUCCESS'
Earlier on Thursday, both Trump and Putin blamed forces
within the United States for marring what they called the success of their
first summit, with Trump saying he looked forward to their second meeting.
Trump accused the news media of distorting comments in which
he gave credence to Putin's denials of election interference despite the
conclusions of the American intelligence community about Moscow's conduct.
"The Summit with Russia was a great success, except
with the real enemy of the people, the Fake News Media," Trump wrote on
Twitter.
"I look forward to our second meeting so that we can
start implementing some of the many things discussed," Trump said, citing
terrorism, Israel's security, nuclear proliferation, cyber attacks, trade,
Ukraine, Middle East peace and North Korea.
In Moscow, Putin said "powerful" U.S. forces were
trying to sabotage the summit's achievements, but said he and Trump had begun
to improve U.S.-Russia ties anyway.
"It was successful overall and led to some useful
agreements" Putin said, without elaborating on the agreements.
"We see that there are forces in the United States that
are prepared to casually sacrifice Russian-U.S. relations, to sacrifice them
for their ambitions in an internal political battle in the United States,"
Putin said.
Without naming names, Putin spoke of U.S. politicians who
put their "narrow party interests" above the best interests of the
United States and were powerful enough to be able to foist their questionable
"stories" on millions of Americans.
Republican and Democratic U.S. lawmakers grappled with
Trump's conflicting statements about the summit as well as what they did not
know: exactly what the two leaders discussed in their private meeting and what
agreements, if any, were reached.
Republicans voted down a motion offered by Democrats in the
House of Representatives intelligence committee to subpoena the American
interpreter who witnessed Trump's meeting with Putin.
Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell said he asked two
Senate panels to recommend additional action aimed at preventing future Russian
election meddling and hold hearings on an existing Russia sanctions law.
American intelligence agencies last year announced their
conclusion that Russia carried out a campaign of hacking and propaganda
targeting the 2016 U.S. election in an attempt to sow discord, disparage
Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton and aid Trump's candidacy. Putin has
denied any such meddling.
(Reporting by Steve Holland, Doina Chiacu, Richard Cowan,
Lisa Lambert, Susan Heavey in Washington and Andrew Osborn and Olesya Astakhova
in Moscow;
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