Trump 'Embarrassed US On Global Scale:' Rep Dwight Evans

Rep. Dwight Evans (D-3) had harsh words for President Donald Trump following a Helsinki press conference in which he appeared to excuse Russia and Vladimir Putin of any wrongdoing in connection with the 2016 election.

Evans, a frequent critic of the Trump Administration, said at the meeting Trump "embarrassed the U.S. on the global stage."

"Despite their obvious attack on our sacred election process, Trump called our country’s previous relationship with Russia 'foolishness and stupidity,'" he said in a statement. "The only 'foolishness and stupidity,' I see is that our President has more loyalty to Russia than the United States of America! After special counsel Robert Mueller issued a staggering 12 indictments on 12 Russian intelligence officers last week, President Trump should have canceled the summit and any talks with Putin. Instead, Trump shook Putin’s hand and praised him while criticizing America."

During the press conference, reporters asked Trump about American intelligence which indicated that Russia was responsible for hacking and meddling in the 2016 election. Trump seemed to dismiss the question and did not condemn Putin, and instead questioned the intelligence. He later elaborated on Twitter.

"As I said today and many times before, "I have GREAT confidence in MY intelligence people." 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!"

Trump's comments on the election meddling and his willingness to publicly excuse Putin on a national stage drew widespread outrage, including from lawmakers in the Republican party.

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."

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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