Putin says he wants to see evidence of election meddling other than 'yelling and hollering in the United States Congress'
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday said the United States must send him evidence more substantial than "yelling and hollering in the United States Congress" if he is to respond to allegations of Moscow's meddling in the 2016 U.S. election.
In an interview with NBC's Megyn Kelly with a translated voiceover, Putin asked Washington to "give us a document, give us an official request" so he can see the allegations and determine whether the Russian nationals indicted by Special Counsel Robert Mueller have violated his country's laws. "We can not respond to that if they do not violate Russian laws," Putin insisted. "With all due respect for you personally, with all due respect for Congress, you must have people with legal degrees" handle the matter.
Putin has denied official government sanction for meddling efforts, a denial President Trump has said he believes. (Trump recently reversed himself on that subject, claiming he "never said Russia did not meddle in the election.")
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Watch an excerpt of Putin's remarks below. Bonnie Kristian
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Bonnie Kristian was a deputy editor and acting editor-in-chief of TheWeek.com. She is a columnist at Christianity Today and author of Untrustworthy: The Knowledge Crisis Breaking Our Brains, Polluting Our Politics, and Corrupting Christian Community (forthcoming 2022) and A Flexible Faith: Rethinking What It Means to Follow Jesus Today (2018). Her writing has also appeared at Time Magazine, CNN, USA Today, Newsweek, the Los Angeles Times, and The American Conservative, among other outlets.
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