Modest rebuke...

GOP offers modest rebuke to Trump after Putin press conference

Some Republicans criticized the president, but few signaled any action was forthcoming.

By ELANA SCHOR and BURGESS EVERETT

President Donald Trump drew quick criticism from a handful of Republicans for aligning with Vladimir Putin and dismissing Moscow's electoral sabotage — but few GOP lawmakers signaled concrete plans to act on their alarm about Trump's remarkably cozy appearance with the Russian president.

Before Trump's one-on-one meeting with Putin, multiple GOP senators had urged the president to send a strong message of disapproval about Russian interference in the 2016 election, particularly given the indictment Friday of 12 Russian intelligence officials accused of hacking the Democratic National Committee.

But Trump took the opposite approach at a joint press conference Monday in Helsinki, casting doubt on the conclusion of U.S. intelligence agencies that Russia was behind the systematic cyber-disruption documented by special counsel Robert Mueller, even as Putin declared that he had wanted Trump to win the White House.

It was, said Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), "one of the most disgraceful performances by an American president in memory."

"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," McCain said in a statement. "No prior president has ever abased himself more abjectly before a tyrant."

Few Republicans echoed McCain's tone of disgust, though the Senate Armed Services Committee chairman was joined in his assessment by Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Corker (R-Tenn.), who declared that Putin "gained a tremendous amount" from Trump treating his word as equivalent to the U.S. intelligence community’s.

Those sort of forceful comments from Republicans are still relegated to a minority of frequent critics of Trump and retiring GOP lawmakers. But noticeable angst over Trump's lengthy meeting with Putin flowed through much of the Republican Party on Monday afternoon.

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), a frequent ally of Trump's, declared the meeting a "missed opportunity by President Trump to firmly hold Russia accountable for 2016 meddling and deliver a strong warning regarding future elections." And House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) emphasized that he disagreed with Trump but declined to criticize the president directly.

“There is no question that Russia interfered in our election and continues attempts to undermine democracy here and around the world,” Ryan said. “The United States must be focused on holding Russia accountable and putting an end to its vile attacks on democracy.”

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) told reporters Monday, “The Russians are not our friends, and I entirely agree with the assessment of our intelligence community.”

Sen. Richard Burr (R-N.C.), chairman of the intelligence committee, issued a statement reiterating previous conclusions by his panel and U.S. intelligence agencies about Russian electoral sabotage, adding: "Any statement by Vladimir Putin contrary to these facts is a lie and should be recognized as one by the president."

Trump's performance also drew harsher condemnations from Republicans in Congress who haven't hesitated to blast him in the past. Sen. Ben Sasse (R-Neb.) described the president's choice to fault both countries for bad U.S.-Russia relations as "bizarre and flat-out wrong."

"America wants a good relationship with the Russian people but Vladimir Putin and his thugs are responsible for Soviet-style aggression," Sasse said in a statement. "When the President plays these moral equivalence games, he gives Putin a propaganda win he desperately needs."

But it's unclear what, if anything, the GOP-controlled Congress is prepared to do to respond to Trump's Putin meeting, which the U.S. president called a "very good start." Lawmakers approved a Russia sanctions package last year on an overwhelmingly bipartisan basis, though Democrats and some Republicans have lamented the Trump administration's sluggish pace of acting on the new sanctions powers that law gave him.

Sen. Cory Gardner (R-Colo.), chairman of the GOP's campaign arm, said he wants those penalties implemented in "full" and "will continue to support maximum economic sanctions on Russia."

Graham proposed hearings on potential U.S. collaboration with Russia in Syria, while most other Republicans used the Trump-Putin summit to reiterate their agreement with the intelligence community's conclusions about Russian election sabotage.

"The American people deserve the truth, & to disregard the legitimacy of our intelligence officials is a disservice to the men & women who serve this country," Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.) tweeted. "It’s time to wake up & face reality. Putin is not our friend; he’s an enemy to our freedom."

Many Republicans stayed immediately silent in the aftermath of the Trump-Putin joint appearance, while others offered support to the president.

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), who praised Trump's decision to sit down with Putin, didn't waver in that judgment. "We applaud them meeting and engaging," a Paul spokesman said.

Meanwhile, Democrats widely lambasted Trump's behavior during and after the Putin meeting as harmful to U.S. interests.

"For the president of the United States to side with President Putin against American law enforcement, American defense officials, and American intelligence agencies is thoughtless, dangerous, and weak," Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York said in a statement.