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US Lawmakers Still Seething Over Trump-Putin Summit

by Michael Bowman

   CAPITOL HILL --

   U.S. President Donald Trump's defense of the Helsinki summit with
   Russian President Vladimir Putin did nothing to quell furor on Capitol
   Hill, where lawmakers on Wednesday demanded answers from the
   administration and pressed punitive legislation aimed at Moscow.

   "Americans and the members of this committee deserve to know what the
   president and foreign autocrats are agreeing to behind closed doors,"
   said the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Bob
   Menendez of New Jersey.

   Menendez expressed consternation over Russian statements signaling a
   willingness to launch security cooperation agreements Trump and Putin
   allegedly agreed to during their encounter.

   "Pro-Kremlin media at this moment are putting out more information '¦
   than anything that I know as the senior-most Democrat on this
   committee, than any member of the committee knows, and that the
   American people know," the senator said.

   Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is expected to testify before the
   committee next week. The panel's chairman, Tennessee Republican Bob
   Corker, said Democrats are not alone in demanding answers.

   "I take a back seat to no one on challenging what happened at NATO,
   what happened in Helsinki," Corker said in response to Menendez. "I
   look forward to working with you in putting whatever pressure we need
   to put on the administration to make sure we find out [details of
   Trump's trip]."

   One day after insisting he misspoke during Monday's press conference
   with Putin in which he did not defend U.S. intelligence conclusions
   that Russia interfered in the 2016 presidential election, Trump blasted
   critics of his performance in Helsinki and proclaimed the summit a
   success.

   Of his closed-door meeting with the Russian leader, Trump wrote on
   Twitter that he and Putin "discussed many important subjects" and
   added: "Big results will come!"

   Democrats' suspicions of Trump have risen to new heights, prompting an
   unprecedented demand that the U.S. interpreter who attended the
   Trump-Putin meeting testify as to what was said.

   The Senate's Democratic minority leader, Chuck Schumer of New York,
   noted that Trump excluded all members of his national security team
   from the private chat with Putin.

   "President Trump wanted no one else in the room. So, to have the
   translator come testify and tell what happened there is an imperative,"
   Schumer said. "It is rare for translators to come before Congress, but
   in this case, it's warranted."

   Republican leaders did not echo the call, but some Republican lawmakers
   reaffirmed their backing for bipartisan legislation to further sanction
   Russia if it meddles in U.S. midterm elections in November, and to
   protect the special counsel in the Justice Department's Russia probe,
   Robert Mueller, a frequent target of Trump's ire.

   "The only thing that Vladimir Putin understands is deterrence," Florida
   Republican Senator Marco Rubio said, advocating the DETER Act that he
   and Maryland Democrat Chris Van Hollen introduced in the chamber.
   "Sanctions will go into effect immediately if the Director of National
   Intelligence '¦ determines that Russia is once again interfering in our
   elections. So that before he [Putin] even does it [orders meddling], he
   has a very clear understanding of what the price is going to be."

   Separately, Arizona Republican Jeff Flake told reporters he is working
   with Democrats to craft a Senate resolution affirming support for
   America's intelligence community and demanding the administration fully
   brief lawmakers on Trump's discussions with Putin in Helsinki.

   Flake has said he was "floored" by the Trump-Putin news conference,
   calling it "shameful."

   Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Kentucky Republican, on
   Tuesday did not rule out Russia-related votes, saying, "There's a
   possibility that we may well take up legislation related to this."