Russia ‘Undermines Democracy,’ Not ‘Trusted’: MI Republican

President Trump’s time on the world stage in Helsinki marked the worst 45 minutes of his time in office by almost any measure and certainly in terms of the amount of criticism it generated even from Congressional members of his own party.

Standing next to Russian President Vladimir Putin during a news conference Monday, Trump surprised the world when he sided with Putin over his own director of national intelligence, casting doubt on conclusions by U.S. intelligence agencies that Russian agents attacked the U.S. electoral system in the 2016 elections.

"I have great confidence in my intelligence people," Trump said during the news conference. "But I will tell you that President Putin was extremely strong and powerful in his denial today."

Most famously, Republican Sen. John McCain of Arizona — a longtime Trump critic — responded to the president's comments by calling them disgraceful.

"Today's press conference in Helsinki was one of the most disgraceful performances by an American president in memory," McCain said Monday. "The damage inflicted by President Trump's naiveté, egotism, false equivalence, and sympathy for autocrats is difficult to calculate. But it is clear that the summit in Helsinki was a tragic mistake."

And Michigan Republicans joined in the criticism.

U.S. Rep. Mike Bishop, R-Rochester, issued a statement saying, "Lest anyone think otherwise ... Putin's Russia is not a trusted friend of the United States" and the U.S. intelligence community has proven, to his satisfaction, "Russia's efforts to undermine democracy here in the United States and across the world."

U.S. Rep. Fred Upton, R-St. Joseph, put out a statement saying, "Russia is not our ally. As I’ve said all along – I trust our intelligence community’s assessment about Russian meddling in our election and fully support the independent Mueller investigation. My position has not changed."

Neither lawmaker specifically mentioned the president by name during their statements.

The White House was in damage-control mode Tuesday. Trump was scheduled to meet with members of Congress.

Intelligence director Dan Coats, who issued a strongly worded statement that Russia did interfere in the election, reaffirmed his commitment to "provide unvarnished and objective intelligence in support of our national security."

"The role of the Intelligence Community is to provide the best information and fact-based assessments possible for the President and policymakers. We have been clear in our assessments of Russian meddling in the 2016 election and their ongoing, pervasive efforts to undermine our democracy, and we will continue to provide unvarnished and objective intelligence in support of our national security," Coats said in the statement.

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