President Donald Trump came out of his one-on-one meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin with an unusual request. In response to the Justice Department’s indictment of 12 Russian military officers in connection with the hacking of servers at the Democratic National Committee and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, the Russian leader wanted his own investigators to question Ambassador Michael McFaul, our man in Moscow during the Obama Administration, and 10 other Americans. To the surprise of just about everyone (probably Putin most of all), the president didn’t immediately say no.
At issue is the Magnitsky Act, a U.S. law passed in 2012 that targeted sanctions at Russian officials accused of human rights abuses. The law has bugged Russia greatly; when a Russian official met with Donald Trump, Jr. and others in Trump Tower in 2016, ostensibly to talk about “dirt” on Hillary Clinton, the real topic she wanted to discuss was easing of sanctions under Magnitsky.
Trump called Putin’s idea “an incredible offer.” It is indeed incredible, in the original, literal meaning of the word: without credibility. I have been trying to find out exactly how Trump could compel McFaul to do anything. If he were a current U.S. government employee, or a military officer, perhaps there might be a legal case to be made for compelling someone to speak to representatives of a foreign government. But short of extraditing someone for prosecution—which is what the Russians really want—there’s simply no way for Putin to get his way.
Do as they Do, not as he says
This is yet another case where one needs to look at the Trump administration’s actions and not the president’s words. By now the pattern is familiar. Someone makes a bold statement or request, and the president thinks out loud, on camera. White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders then dutifully supports the president’s statements, and the rest of the Administration works to prevent the outrageous idea going forward.
That’s exactly the situation here. Moments after Sanders was finished saying that the president was “open” to the idea, State Department spokesperson Heather Nauert began her regular press conference in Foggy Bottom, seven blocks west of the White House. Putin’s proposal and Trump’s response were the subject of the first question.
Her response left little room for doubt over what the real policymakers think. “I can’t answer on behalf of the White House with regard to that” Nauert said, “but what I can tell you is that the overall assertions that have come out of the Russian Government are absolutely absurd.”
For its part, the Senate, by a vote of 98-0, quickly passed a resolution expressing the ‘sense of the Senate against the making available of current and former diplomats, officials, and members of the Armed Forces of the United States for questioning by the government of Vladimir Putin.” And Dan Coats, the director of national intelligence and a former senator, reiterated he would continue to tell Trump the truth about maligning Russian activities.
“As long as I have the ability to seek the truth and speak the truth, I’m on board,” he told NBC’s Andrea Mitchell at the Aspen Security Forum Thursday afternoon. Also speaking at the forum Wednesday, FBI Director Christopher Wray said Russia “continues to engage in malign influence operations to this day.”
The President’s entire national security team is against him on this one. Perhaps that’s why the White House announced Thursday afternoon that the president had decided to reject Putin’s proposal. The “adults in the room” are still in control.
