Trump Backtracks On One Sliver Of Russia Comments

WASHINGTON, DC — President Trump on Tuesday attempted to walk back the damage he did to his credibility when he appeared to side with Russian President Vladimir Putin over his own intelligence agencies on the subject of Russian election meddling. The president, who returned to the United States Tuesday to nearly universal condemnation over his remarks in Helsinki, said in remarks to Republican congressional leaders that he has "full faith and support for America's intelligence people and always have."

Trump is under pressure to say unequivocally that he trusts U.S. intelligence officials and there won’t be any U.S. effort to cooperate with Russia in the investigation. Doubling down on comments he made after his remarks in Helsinki sparked a fierce bipartisan backlash, Trump said he misspoke when he said he didn't "see any reason why it would be" Russia that meddled in the elections.

"I thought I made myself very clear," Trump said, adding he was surprised on his return to the United States about the blowback about his comments and went back to look at the transcript. "I came back to 'what is going on, what's the big deal?' and I realized there is a need for some clarification. In a sentence in my remarks, I said the word 'would' instead of 'wouldn't' ... and the sentence should have been ... 'I don't see any reason why it wouldn't be Russia' -- sort of a double negative."

In Helsinki, Trump refused to either condemn Russia’s interference in the election or say unequivocally that he believes American intelligence agencies over Russia’s denials of meddling. The news conference with Putin came just three days after Trump’s own Justice Department indicted 12 members of the Russian military and accused them of hacking the computer networks of Democratic organizations and Hillary Clinton's campaigns. They were members of Russian military intelligence known as GRU, which is tightly controlled by Putin.

Democrats have called on Trump to release full notes from a nearly two-hour private meeting with Putin. Trump didn't say whether he would do that, but said he and Putin "tackled" some of the most pressing world issues in the meeting. Among the topics were Israeli security, North Korea, Syria and Iran's nuclear ambitions.

He made clear, though, that Russia's actions had no impact. "Let me be clear," he said. "They did attempt to meddle, they did not change results."

During the news conference with Putin in Helsinki, Trump also welcomed an offer by Putin for Russian intelligence officials to assist the United States in special counsel Robert Mueller’s indictment of 12 Russian military officials in the election tampering investigation.

“He offered to have the people working on the case come and work with their investigations with respect to the 12 people,” Trump said. “I think that’s an incredible offer.”

Tweeting from Air Force One on a return flight to the United States, Trump attempted to clarify his remarks. "As I said today and many times before, 'I have GREAT confidence in MY intelligence people,' " he tweeted. "However, I also recognize that in order to build a brighter future, we cannot exclusively focus on the past — as the world's two largest nuclear powers, we must get along!"

The meeting with Congress was originally closed to the press, but White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said the first portion would remain open. The meeting comes after even the president's allies publicly criticized him. They include Dan Coats, who issued a strongly worded statement that Russia did interfere in the election and 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.

Former CIA official Larry Pfeiffer tweeted Monday that Coats should “resign in protest and disgust.”

"To those saying we need the DNI to stay, I would respond with the question: Has his presence curbed the President?” Pfeiffer, who formerly ran the Situation Room, said in a second tweet. “History shows well-timed and principled resignations help illuminate and focus on problems. As would a confirmation hearing for a successor.”

Even the conservative magazine The Weekly Standard called Trump’s remarks in Helsinki are “a punishable offense” and said he should be censured by Congress. Andrew Jackson is the only U.S. president in history to be censured by Congress, “but Republicans on the Hill would not be out of line in seeking a formal censure of Donald Trump,” the magazine’s editors wrote, continuing:

“We understand that such a measure would be largely symbolic. But symbols matter. It would be no small thing for congressional Republicans to declare, in a formal manner, that a president who coddles and defends an anti-American despot doesn’t deserve their support.”

A senior White House official told CBS News the president is feeling “very good” about the meeting with Putin, but hasn’t offered any specifics about what came out of the summit.

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