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Trump Assailed for Saying He Would Take Campaign Help From Russia Trump Is Assailed for Saying He Would Take Campaign Help From Russia
(about 4 hours later)
WASHINGTON — Democrats and Republicans joined together on Thursday to condemn President Trump for saying that he would still accept campaign help from Russia or other foreign governments, but disagreed on whether new legislation was required. WASHINGTON — For President Trump, the special counsel report was supposed to put Russia in his rearview mirror. But with some off-the-cuff remarks in the Oval Office, he has thrust his relationship with Moscow back into the debate over the future of his presidency.
In an interview broadcast on Wednesday night, Mr. Trump rejected his own F.B.I. director’s recommendation that candidates call the authorities if foreign governments seek to influence American elections, saying he would gladly take incriminating information about a campaign opponent from adversaries like Russia. Mr. Trump’s defiant declaration that “I’d take it” if Russia again offered campaign help and his assertion that he would not necessarily tell the F.B.I. about it drew bipartisan condemnation on Thursday, fueling calls for legislation requiring candidates to report such offers to the authorities and emboldening Democrats seeking his impeachment.
Democrats said Mr. Trump seemed to be inviting the help of Russia and other foreign powers as he campaigns for re-election in 2020. “Yesterday, the president gave us, once again, evidence that he does not know right from wrong,” Speaker Nancy Pelosi told reporters. She added, “I believe that he’s been involved in a criminal cover-up.” The furor shifted the discussion in Washington away from obstruction of justice and back to the original issue that had dogged Mr. Trump since his election in 2016. Although the special counsel, Robert S. Mueller III, found no illegal conspiracy between Mr. Trump’s campaign and Russia, the president’s comments renewed questions about his willingness to profit from the aid of a hostile foreign power.
Ms. Pelosi said Democrats would advance legislation intended to make it a legal requirement for candidates to report to law enforcement authorities any effort by foreign governments to influence American elections. She and other Democrats said it should not be necessary to write that into law but Mr. Trump’s comments made it clear there was no choice. “The president has either learned nothing from the last two years or picked up exactly the wrong lesson that he can accept gleefully foreign assistance again and escape the punishment of the law,” said Representative Adam B. Schiff, Democrat of California and chairman of the House Intelligence Committee.
In the Senate, Republicans on Thursday rejected an attempt by Senator Mark Warner of Virginia, the top Democrat on the Intelligence Committee, to pass a bill by unanimous consent that would require candidates to report any attempts by foreign nationals to donate or coordinate with their campaign by offering assistance. Irritated at what they considered an unnecessary distraction, Republicans, including some of the president’s staunchest supporters, joined in the chorus of criticism. While some sought to turn the tables on Democrats by accusing them of taking foreign help, too, Republicans flatly rejected Mr. Trump’s insistence that it was acceptable.
But Republicans agreed that Mr. Trump was wrong to express willingness to take help from Russia. “If a public official is approached by a foreign government offering anything of value, the answer is no — whether it be money, opposition research,” said Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, a close ally of the president who said he spoke with Mr. Trump on Thursday about the matter.
“If a public official is approached by a foreign government offering anything of value, the answer is no — whether it be money, opposition research,” Senator Lindsey Graham, Republican of South Carolina and a close ally of the president, told reporters. “The right answer is no.” ”I wouldn’t do it,” said Senator Jodi Ernst of Iowa. “I wouldn’t accept material like that.”
Mr. Trump sought to defend himself on Thursday by comparing his willingness to accept campaign help to the sorts of diplomatic meetings he holds regularly with foreign leaders like Queen Elizabeth II of Britain. When a reporter noted that Mr. Trump said politicians do it all the time, she added firmly: “No, we don’t. Let’s stop there. No we don’t.”
Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other Democrats used the moment to advance legislation to require candidates to report to the authorities any effort by foreign governments to influence American elections. But when Senator Mark Warner of Virginia, the top Democrat on the Intelligence Committee, sought to pass such a bill by unanimous consent Thursday afternoon, Republicans blocked it.
The president’s comments did not change Ms. Pelosi’s reluctance to pursue impeachment against Mr. Trump. But they did prompt one more Democrat to come out for an impeachment inquiry, Representative Eric Swalwell of California, who is also running for president. His decision meant that a majority of Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee now publicly support impeachment hearings.
Other Democratic presidential candidates pounced on Mr. Trump as well. Former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. said a president should not “abet those who seek to undermine democracy.” Senators Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota and Cory Booker of New Jersey each called Mr. Trump’s comments “disgraceful.” And Senator Kamala Harris of California said the president was “a national security threat.”
The outpouring of criticism was touched off Wednesday when Mr. Trump said in an interview with ABC News that he would gladly take incriminating information about a campaign opponent from adversaries like Russia and saw no reason to call the F.B.I., as the bureau’s director, Christopher A. Wray, a Trump appointee, said campaigns should do.
“I think I’d take it,” Mr. Trump told ABC’s George Stephanopoulos. He scoffed at the idea of calling the F.B.I. “Give me a break — life doesn’t work that way,” he said. When Mr. Stephanopoulos noted that the F.B.I. director said a candidate should inform the bureau, Mr. Trump snapped, “The F.B.I. director is wrong.”
Mr. Trump defended himself on Thursday by comparing his willingness to accept campaign help to the sorts of diplomatic meetings he holds regularly with foreign leaders like Queen Elizabeth II of Britain.
“I meet and talk to ‘foreign governments’ every day,” he wrote on Twitter. “I just met with the Queen of England (U.K.), the Prince of Whales, the P.M. of the United Kingdom, the P.M. of Ireland, the President of France and the President of Poland. We talked about ‘Everything!’” he added, misspelling the title of Prince Charles, the Prince of Wales, before fixing and reposting it.“I meet and talk to ‘foreign governments’ every day,” he wrote on Twitter. “I just met with the Queen of England (U.K.), the Prince of Whales, the P.M. of the United Kingdom, the P.M. of Ireland, the President of France and the President of Poland. We talked about ‘Everything!’” he added, misspelling the title of Prince Charles, the Prince of Wales, before fixing and reposting it.
“Should I immediately call the FBI about these calls and meetings?” he continued. “How ridiculous! I would never be trusted again. With that being said, my full answer is rarely played by the Fake News Media. They purposely leave out the part that matters.”“Should I immediately call the FBI about these calls and meetings?” he continued. “How ridiculous! I would never be trusted again. With that being said, my full answer is rarely played by the Fake News Media. They purposely leave out the part that matters.”
The comparison was startling even for Mr. Trump. Having tea with the queen of England is hardly the same as taking clandestine help from agents of President Vladimir V. Putin as part of a concerted campaign by Russian intelligence to tilt an American presidential election.The comparison was startling even for Mr. Trump. Having tea with the queen of England is hardly the same as taking clandestine help from agents of President Vladimir V. Putin as part of a concerted campaign by Russian intelligence to tilt an American presidential election.
American law makes it a crime for a candidate to accept money or anything of value from foreign governments or citizens for purposes of winning an election. Many lawyers argued about whether incriminating information, as Mr. Trump’s campaign in 2016 agreed to take from the Russian government, would qualify as a thing of value. American law makes it a crime for a candidate to accept money or anything of value from foreign governments or citizens for the purposes of winning an election. Many lawyers argued about whether incriminating information, as Mr. Trump’s campaign in 2016 agreed to take from the Russian government, would qualify as a thing of value.
In the end, Robert S. Mueller III, the special counsel, said in his recent report that he could not establish an illegal conspiracy between Mr. Trump’s campaign and Russia to influence the election. But his report documented numerous contacts between the two camps and concluded that Mr. Trump benefited from Moscow’s efforts to help elect him. The president’s interview came on the same day that his son Donald Trump Jr. appeared on Capitol Hill to answer questions from lawmakers. During the 2016 campaign, the younger Mr. Trump — along with Jared Kushner, the future president’s son-in-law, and Paul Manafort, then his campaign chairman — met with a Kremlin-connected lawyer after being told she would have “dirt” on Mrs. Clinton as “part of Russia and its government’s support for Mr. Trump.”
In his interview with ABC News aired on Wednesday night, Mr. Trump said he saw nothing inherently wrong with taking damaging information about a campaign opponent and would not necessarily call the F.B.I., as the bureau’s director, Christopher A. Wray, a Trump appointee, said campaigns should do. With his latest comments, Democrats said the president was effectively inviting Russia and other powers to intervene in next year’s election, comparing it to Mr. Trump’s public remarks during the 2016 campaign when he said, “Russia, if you are listening,” it should find and publish Hillary Clinton’s emails. While Mr. Trump later said he was only joking, Mr. Mueller’s investigators reported that Russian agents tried to do just that hours later.
“It’s not an interference,” Mr. Trump told ABC’s George Stephanopoulos, describing it as opposition research like any other generated or accepted by political campaigns. “They have information — I think I’d take it.” He would call the F.B.I. only “if I thought there was something wrong.”
He scoffed at the idea of calling the F.B.I. “Give me a break — life doesn’t work that way,” he said. When Mr. Stephanopoulos noted that the F.B.I. director said a candidate should inform the bureau, Mr. Trump snapped, “The F.B.I. director is wrong.”
Democrats called the comments astonishing given what has been learned about the Russian government’s secret efforts to tilt the 2016 election.
“The president has either learned nothing from the last two years or picked up exactly the wrong lesson that he can accept gleefully foreign assistance again and escape the punishment of the law,” Representative Adam B. Schiff, Democrat of California and the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, told reporters.
“There is no claiming ignorance of the law anymore,” he added. “Foreign adversaries pay attention to every word the president of the United States has to say.”
Mr. Schiff and other Democrats compared the latest comments to Mr. Trump’s public remarks during the campaign when he said, “Russia, if you are listening,” it should find and publish Hillary Clinton’s emails. While Mr. Trump later said he was just joking, Mr. Mueller’s investigators reported that Russian agents tried to do just that hours later.
“The message he seems to be sending now is as long as a foreign power wants to help his campaign, they can count on him having the good discretion not to alert his F.B.I. about it,” Mr. Schiff said. “It is just dangerous, appalling, unethical, unpatriotic — you name it.”“The message he seems to be sending now is as long as a foreign power wants to help his campaign, they can count on him having the good discretion not to alert his F.B.I. about it,” Mr. Schiff said. “It is just dangerous, appalling, unethical, unpatriotic — you name it.”
Republicans joined in the criticism. Republicans across the board said they would never do what Mr. Trump suggested. “Certainly, absolutely not,” said Senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska. “Just say no. Turn it over,” said Senator Cory Gardner of Colorado. Senator Thom Tillis of North Carolina said, “I would go immediately to the authorities, period.”
“You don’t ever want to take foreign money — that’s illegal — and the next route to money is information,” Senator Johnny Isakson of Georgia said. “If you take information from somebody that’s foreign and it’s involved in your campaign, you’re running the risk of inviting foreign money into your campaign. You’ve got to be very careful.” Yet some Republicans, like Mr. Graham, also tried to turn the tables on the Democrats by pointing to their use of information gathered about Mr. Trump during the 2016 campaign by Christopher Steele, a former British intelligence officer who produced a dossier of reports and rumors about Mr. Trump’s ties to Russia.
Senator Joni Ernst of Iowa said she would rebuff any such offers. “I wouldn’t do it,” she said. “I wouldn’t accept material like that.”
When a reporter noted that Mr. Trump said politicians do it all the time, she added firmly: “No, we don’t. Let’s stop there. No, we don’t.”
Still, some Republicans tried to turn the tables on the Democrats by pointing to their use of information gathered about Mr. Trump during the 2016 campaign by Christopher Steele, a former British intelligence officer who produced a dossier of reports and rumors about Mr. Trump’s ties to Russia.
“The outrage some of my Democratic colleagues are raising about President Trump’s comments will hopefully be met with equal outrage that their own party hired a foreign national to do opposition research on President Trump’s campaign and that information, unverified, was apparently used by the F.B.I. to obtain a warrant against an American citizen,” Mr. Graham said.“The outrage some of my Democratic colleagues are raising about President Trump’s comments will hopefully be met with equal outrage that their own party hired a foreign national to do opposition research on President Trump’s campaign and that information, unverified, was apparently used by the F.B.I. to obtain a warrant against an American citizen,” Mr. Graham said.
The president’s interview came on the same day that his son Donald Trump Jr. appeared on Capitol Hill to answer questions from lawmakers. During the 2016 campaign, the younger Mr. Trump — along with Jared Kushner, the future president’s son-in-law, and Paul Manafort, then his campaign chairman — met with a Kremlin-connected lawyer after being told she would have “dirt” on Mrs. Clinton as “part of Russia and its government’s support for Mr. Trump.” The Republican National Committee issued a statement called “Hypocrisy Alert” accusing Democrats of seeking incriminating information from foreign sources, citing Mr. Steele and a Democratic operative who tried to work with Ukrainian officials to expose Mr. Manafort’s overseas lobbying activities.
But they are not precise parallels. While many have criticized the veracity of Mr. Steele’s dossier and how it was used by Mrs. Clinton’s campaign or the government, he was not working for a hostile government and he turned over his findings to the F.B.I.
Likewise, Mr. Trump accused Mr. Warner and Mr. Schiff of double standards, saying that each of them spoke with someone “purporting to be a Russian Operative” about the president. “Did he call the FBI, or even think to call the FBI?” Mr. Trump wrote of Mr. Schiff. “NO!”
An aide to Mr. Warner said the office was uncertain what Mr. Trump was referring to. He could have been conflating the senator with Mr. Schiff, who in 2017 did take what turned out to be a prank telephone call from two Russians masquerading as a member of the Ukrainian parliament who had compromising information on the president.
Mr. Schiff responded in a tweet on Thursday that he had in fact informed the F.B.I. of the outreach, which he believed could aid a House investigation into Russian interference. “When a foreign national offered info relevant to our investigation — not election — we informed the FBI before and after the call,” he wrote, responding to Mr. Trump. “It’s called ethics. You should try it.”