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Bloomberg

Whatever US President Donald Trump had hoped to get out of his summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Robert Mueller changed the game.
Trump’s goals for the meeting were unclear. But now Trump is under pressure – including from several members of Congress from his own party – to confront Putin about claims he tried to sabotage the election that put Trump in the White House.
Democrats called on him to scrap the summit in protest. That is not happening, the White House said.

And there’s no sign that Trump will demand that Putin turn over the 12 Russian intelligence officials that Mueller, the special counsel indicted this week.
And they probably will never stand trial.
But critics argue that Monday’s meeting in Helsinki has become a pivotal test of Trump’s strength and will to defend election integrity – something they say he has not done so far.
“It will be somewhat more difficult for him to simply go through the motions,” said Daniel Fried, who was assistant secretary of state for Europe under president George W. Bush. “The point is to send Putin a very clear message: stay out of our elections.”
Putin knows what he wants from Trump summit – and he might well get it
Republican Senator John McCain insisted the indictments add to evidence confirming an “extensive plot” by the Kremlin to sow discord among American voters, attack the 2016 election, and undermine faith in democracy.
“President Trump must be willing to confront Putin from a position of strength and demonstrate that there will be a serious price to pay for his ongoing aggression towards the United States and democracies around the world,” said McCain, the Republican presidential nominee in 2008.
“If President Trump is not prepared to hold Putin accountable, the summit in Helsinki should not move forward,” McCain said.

On Saturday, from Scotland, the US president blamed his predecessor Barack Obama, tweeting: “The stories you heard about the 12 Russians yesterday took place during the Obama Administration, not the Trump Administration. Why didn’t they do something about it, especially when it was reported that President Obama was informed by the FBI in September, before the Election?”
According to Obama aides, Obama tried to formulate a bipartisan statement on alleged Russian election interference in September 2016, two months before the election, but saw the effort “watered down” by Republican Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell.
Trump belittled the idea of challenging the Russian president over election interference during a press conference on Friday just before the criminal charges were announced.

The stories you heard about the 12 Russians yesterday took place during the Obama Administration, not the Trump Administration. Why didn’t they do something about it, especially when it was reported that President Obama was informed by the FBI in September, before the Election?
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 14, 2018

“I will absolutely, firmly ask the question” to Putin, Trump said at a press conference with British Prime Minister Theresa May. But he suggested there was little point.
“I don’t think you’ll have any ‘Gee, I did it, I did it, you got me,’” Trump said.
Trump has previously shown little appetite for pressing the issue, telling reporters after meeting Putin in Vietnam last November that he had finished discussing it and believed the Russian leader’s denials were sincere.
“He said he didn’t meddle. I asked him again. You can only ask so many times,” Trump told reporters on Air Force One. “I really believe, that when he tells me that, he means it.”
Lawmakers from his own party said on Friday that was no longer enough.

Republican Senator Jeff Flake of Arizona said Trump must do more than ask.
“Mr President, as today’s indictments reaffirm, election interference is not a question to be asked of Vladimir Putin, but a statement to be made to Vladimir Putin: you interfered in our elections,” Flake said on Twitter.
A chorus of Democrats including Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi said Trump must call off the summit.
Mueller indicts 12 Russian hackers ‘for stealing info on 500,000 voters’
“President Trump should cancel his meeting with Vladimir Putin until Russia takes demonstrable and transparent steps to prove that they won’t interfere in future elections,” Schumer said.
“Glad-handing with Vladimir Putin on the heels of these indictments would be an insult to our democracy,” he added.

Mr. President, as today’s indictments reaffirm, election interference is not a question to be asked of Vladimir Putin, but a statement to be made to Vladimir Putin: You interfered in our elections.
— Jeff Flake (@JeffFlake) July 13, 2018

The Russians are charged with stealing usernames and passwords of people working in Democrat Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign and hacking into the computer networks of other Democratic Party organisations.
White House spokeswoman Lindsay Walters said “today’s charges include no allegations of knowing involvement by anyone on the campaign and no allegations that the alleged hacking affected the election result”.
Trump has long downplayed Russia’s alleged meddling in the 2016 election and repeatedly referred to Mueller’s investigation as a “witch hunt”.
Trump suggested at stops in Europe that his primary goal for meeting Putin is a better relationship, though he also said he would discuss Russia’s incursions into Ukraine, the war in Syria and nuclear proliferation.
I will absolutely, firmly ask the question
US President Donald Trump
“We do have political problem where – you know in the United States we have this stupidity going on. Pure stupidity,” Trump told reporters at the Friday press conference with May.
“But it makes it very hard to do something with Russia. Anything you do, it’s always going to be, ‘Oh, Russia, he loves Russia.’”
The indictments are the most detailed allegations so far of how units of Russia’s GRU tried to influence the 2016 election by stealing Democratic emails, then releasing them in ways meant to dominate news headlines as voters made up their minds.


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After Mueller indictments, Trump pressured to tell Putin ‘stay out of our elections’

A painting by Finnish artist Kaj Stenvall showing US President Donald Trump, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Lennu, the dog of Finnish President Sauli Niinisto. The summit between Trump and Putin is scheduled to begin on Monday in Helsinki. Photo: EPA-EFE

(FILES) In this file photo taken on June 19, 2013 Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Director Robert Mueller testifies before the US Senate Judiciary Committee on oversight during a hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC. Twelve Russian intelligence officers have been indicted by a grand jury for hacking Democratic Party emails ahead of the 2016 US presidential election, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein announced July 13, 2018. The indictment was drawn up by Special Counsel Robert Mueller, the former FBI director who is looking into Russian interference in the November 2016 vote. Mueller was appointed on May 17, 2017 as special counsel to lead the investigation into links between President Donald Trump's election campaign and Russia. / AFP PHOTO / Saul LOEB

WASHINGTON, DC - JULY 10: Sen. Jeff Flake (R-NM) speaks with reporters in the U.S. Capitol Subway on July 10, 2018 in Washington, DC. U.S. U.S. President Donald Trump nominated Kavanaugh to succeed retiring Supreme Court Associate Justice Anthony Kennedy. Alex Edelman/Getty Images/AFP == FOR NEWSPAPERS, INTERNET, TELCOS & TELEVISION USE ONLY ==

epa06880800 Senate Minority Leader Democrat Chuck Schumer (L) speaks on Senate Democrats' opposition to US President Donald J. Trump's Supreme Court Justice nominee Brett Kavanaugh, during an event on the Trump's administration's healthcare policies, on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, USA, 11 July 2018. The confirmation of Kavanaugh is expected to face strong opposition from Senate Democrats, as the balance of the court could be altered with long-lasting effect on controversial laws. EPA-EFE/MICHAEL REYNOLDS

Robert Mueller indicts 12 Russian intelligence officers for hacking US Democrats in 2016 presidential election

The indictments were announced as part of the ongoing special counsel investigation into potential coordination between Donald Trump’s election campaign and Russia

In this file photo, June 8, 2017, file photo, fired FBI director James Comey testifies before the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, on Capitol Hill in Washington. The Justice Department's watchdog faults former Comey for breaking with protocol in his handling of the Hillary Clinton email investigation. But it says his decisions were not driven by political bias ahead of the 2016 election.(AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)

This photograph obtained courtesy of the Alexandria Sheriff's Office, Paul Manafort, Donald Trump's former campaign chief, is seen in this booking photo July 12, 2018 after his transfer to the Alexandria Detention Center in Alexandria, Virginia. Manafort, who is facing trial later this year on money laundering charges involving his work for Ukraine that predated the 2016 presidential election, is one of 20 people and three companies already indicted by Special Counsel Robert Mueller in the investigation into possible collusion with Russia by the Trump campaign, as well as possible obstruction of justice. / AFP PHOTO / ALEXANDRIA SHERIFF'S OFFICE / HO / == RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE / MANDATORY CREDIT: "AFP PHOTO / ALEXANDRIA SHERIFF'S OFFICE / HANDOUT" / NO MARKETING / NO ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS / DISTRIBUTED AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS ==

The US national flag flies over a statue on the Department of Justice in Washington, DC. Photo: AFP

Vladimir Putin has a lot to gain from Trump summit – and he might get it

Matryoshka dolls depicting Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President Donald Trump at a flea market in Moscow earlier this week. The two leaders will meet next week in Helsinki. Photo: AFP

U.S. ambassador to Russia Jon Huntsman looks on during a news conference of U.S. National Security Adviser John Bolton in Moscow, Russia June 27, 2018. REUTERS/Sergei Karpukhin

Angela Merkel, Germany's chancellor, center, walks to a news conference with Ursula von der Leyen, Germany's defense minister, second left, at the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) summit in Brussels, Belgium, on Thursday, July 12, 2018. In an unexpected twist, NATO leaders held an unplanned emergency session on the last day of their two-day summit, which has been upended by Trump's attacks on allies over defense spending. Photographer: Marlene Awaad/Bloomberg

Demonstrators protest against the visit of U.S. President Donald Trump, in central London, Britain, July 13, 2018. REUTERS/Yves Herman TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY

epa06885713 (FILE) - Russian President Vladimir Putin (R) and US President Donald J. Trump (L) talk during a break of a leader's meeting at the 25th Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Da Nang, Vietnam, 11 November 2017 (reissued 13 July 2018). US President Donald J. Trump and Russian President Putin will meet in Helsinki, Finland on 16 July 2018. EPA-EFE/MIKHAIL KLIMENTYEV/SPUTNIK/KREML MANDATORY CREDIT *** Local Caption *** 53952090

After Mueller indictments, Trump pressured to tell Putin ‘stay out of our elections’

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}US president blames Obama as calls grow for scrapping the Helsinki summit

US president blames Obama as calls grow for scrapping the Helsinki summit