{"slug":"trump-russia-election-interference-response","title":"Refusing to Confront Russian Election Interference: Capitulation to Putin at Helsinki","date":"2018-07-16","lastUpdated":"2020-02-25","description":"At the July 2018 Helsinki summit, Trump publicly sided with Vladimir Putin over his own intelligence agencies on Russian interference in the 2016 election, saying he didn't 'see any reason why it would be Russia.' This followed years of Trump refusing to implement bipartisan sanctions Congress had passed, undermining NATO unity, and taking positions favorable to Russia on Ukraine, Montenegro, and other issues. The Senate Intelligence Committee's bipartisan 2020 report confirmed Russian interference was designed to benefit Trump.","summary":"Standing next to Putin at a joint press conference, Trump declined to affirm the intelligence community's unanimous assessment that Russia interfered in the 2016 election to benefit him. He also refused to implement congressionally-mandated sanctions against Russia following the Salisbury chemical weapons attack and on other grounds. The Senate Intelligence Committee's 2020 bipartisan report confirmed not only Russian interference but that Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort shared internal polling data with a Russian intelligence operative.","category":"foreign-policy","severity":"extreme","ongoing":false,"sources":[{"url":"https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/16/world/europe/trump-putin-election.html","title":"Trump, at Putin's Side, Questions U.S. Intelligence on 2016 Election","publisher":"The New York Times"},{"url":"https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-disputes-us-intelligence-on-russia-at-summit-with-putin/2018/07/16/a98c3b98-88c3-11e8-a345-a1bf7847b375_story.html","title":"Trump at Helsinki: sided with Putin against U.S. intelligence","publisher":"The Washington Post"},{"url":"https://intelligence.senate.gov/press/senate-intelligence-committee-releases-volume-5-bipartisan-russia-report","title":"Senate Intelligence Committee Bipartisan Russia Report, Volume 5","publisher":"U.S. Senate Select Committee on Intelligence"},{"url":"https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-44852812","title":"Helsinki summit: Trump defends Putin, says US partly to blame for poor relations","publisher":"BBC News"},{"url":"https://apnews.com/article/donald-trump-russia-election-intelligence-helsinki-summit-b83cb1a0b5834e0cb6d2e3427fa9b4df","title":"Former intelligence chiefs react with horror to Trump's Helsinki performance","publisher":"The Associated Press"}],"draft":false,"status":"published","tags":["Russia","Helsinki","election-interference","Putin","first-term","NATO","sanctions"],"relatedEntries":[],"timeline":[{"date":"2017-01-20","title":"Trump consistently refuses to criticize Russia","summary":"In his first months as president, Trump declines every opportunity to criticize Russia or Putin specifically, while freely criticizing NATO allies, Germany, Canada, and other partners. Intelligence officials document their frustration at Trump's unwillingness to be briefed on Russian intelligence operations."},{"date":"2017-07-01","title":"Trump delays Russia sanctions mandated by Congress","summary":"Congress passes the Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA) with a 98-2 Senate vote, mandating sanctions on Russia. Trump delays implementation and complains the bill constrains his authority."},{"date":"2018-03-15","title":"Treasury sanctions — but Trump resists","summary":"The Treasury Department announces sanctions on Russian entities for election interference; UN Ambassador Nikki Haley announces additional Russia sanctions on Sunday shows — only for the White House to announce Monday that no new sanctions are coming. Officials describe it as Trump personally blocking the sanctions Haley had announced."},{"date":"2018-07-16","title":"Helsinki — Trump sides with Putin against U.S. intelligence","summary":"At the Helsinki press conference, Trump declines to affirm the intelligence community's assessment of Russian interference, says he finds Putin's denials credible, and blames 'both sides' for poor U.S.-Russia relations. The performance shocks bipartisan foreign policy establishment."},{"date":"2018-07-17","title":"Trump backtracks — then contradicts himself again","summary":"Under intense domestic and international pressure, Trump says he misspoke at Helsinki — that he meant 'wouldn't' rather than 'would' when saying he didn't see 'any reason why it would be Russia.' Within hours, he qualifies the correction by adding 'could be other people also.'"},{"date":"2020-02-25","title":"Senate Intelligence bipartisan report: Russian interference confirmed","summary":"The bipartisan Senate Intelligence Committee report confirms Russian interference was designed to benefit Trump; that Manafort shared polling data with Kilimnik (a Russian intelligence asset); and that the FBI's counterintelligence concerns about the Trump campaign were substantiated."}],"location":{"name":"Helsinki, Finland","lat":60.1699,"lng":24.9384},"custom":{"era":"first-term","posture":"reported","warCrimeClassification":"enabling","internationalLaw":[{"statute":"UN Charter","article":"Article 2(4)","provision":"All members shall refrain from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state — Russia's interference in U.S. and European elections is a form of covert aggression that a U.S. president's capitulation enabled"}],"iccRelevance":false,"victims":"American democratic institutions; NATO allies who required American resolve; Ukraine, abandoned repeatedly in negotiations; Montenegro and Georgia, whose sovereignty was undermined","structuredPerpetrators":[{"name":"Donald Trump","role":"President of the United States","institution":"White House"}],"updateLog":[{"date":"2020-02-25","summary":"Updated with Senate Intelligence Committee bipartisan Volume 5 report."}]}}