Trump denies working for Russia against US
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump flatly denied that he ever worked for Russia against U.S. interests on Monday and called the allegation “a whole big fat hoax.”
The denial follows a New York Times report that said federal justice officials “became so concerned by the president’s behavior” after he fired FBI Director James Comey in May 2017 that they began investigating “whether he had been working on behalf of Russia against American interests.“
The story acknowledged that no evidence has emerged publicly about Trump communicating with Moscow during the campaign as Special Counsel Robert Mueller investigates Russian interference in the 2016 election.
Trump gave fuel to the story’s credibility Saturday night when he called into Fox News and spoke to host Jeanine Pirro. Rather than answer no when Pirro asked if he had ever worked for Russia, Trump responded, “I think it’s the most insulting thing I’ve ever been asked.”
So Monday, a reporter again asked Trump if he had worked for Russia, but this time he gave a clear answer — no — before adding that “it’s a disgrace that you even asked that question because it’s a whole big fat hoax. It’s just a hoax.”
Monday’s clear denial demonstrated the pressure Trump faces as the special counsel’s Russia investigation shows possible signs of wrapping up. After two years in office, the president is still being questioned about whether he was compromised by Russian intelligence agencies.
In addition to the Times story, the Washington Post reported over the weekend that Trump took notes made by his interpreter during his first meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Hamburg in 2017. Trump reportedly directed the interpreter not to share what was said at the meeting.
The incident fit with a pattern of Trump holding close to his communications with Putin – including a July presidents-only meeting with Putin in Helsinki with no high-level U.S. officials in the room.
During a joint press conference with Putin after the Helsinki summit, Trump told reporters he “didn’t see any reason” why Russia would have interfered with the 2016 election — an assertion that contradicted, and perhaps undercut, U.S. intelligence officials who found Russian meddling.
With Democrats taking over the House, several House committees already are looking to investigate possible links between the Trump campaign and Russia.
House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Eliot Engel said that his committee “will seek to get to the bottom” of “the mysteries swirling around Trump’s bizarre relationship with Putin and his cronies.”
“Every time Trump meets with Putin, the country is told nothing,” Engel said in a statement.
Also, Trump’s former personal attorney, Michael Cohen, will testify before the House Oversight Committee on Feb. 7. Cohen has pleaded guilty to lying to Congress about Trump’s negotiations on a Trump Tower in Moscow – which he now says lasted into June 2016 – and other charges.
When talking with Pirro on Fox News, Trump asserted that no president has taken a harder stance against Russia than he has.
“If you ask the folks in Russia, I’ve been tougher on Russia than anybody else, any other … probably any other president, period, but certainly the last three or four presidents,” he said.
Contact Debra J. Saunders at dsaunders@reviewjournal.com or at 202-662-7391. Follow @DebraJSaunders on Twitter. The Associated Press contributed to this report.