2016 ELECTION/GOP/INTELLIGENCE/RUSSIA/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “After President Donald Trump’s stunning news conference Monday [7-16-18] next to Russian President Vladimir Putin, members of Congress — including some powerful Republicans — were quick to rebuke Trump’s performance on the world stage and Trump’s refusal to call Putin out for interfering in the US election. House Speaker Paul Ryan contradicted several comments Trump made during his Helsinki news conference, most notably backing the US intelligence community assessment that Russia meddled with the US 2016 presidential election…Trump’s comments that appeared to equivocate Putin’s denial of Russian election meddling and the US intelligence community’s assessment were commonly evoked in the steady stream of criticism. Republican Sen. Ben Sasse, a Republican from Nebraska, issued a blistering statement just minutes after the press conference wrapped. Sasse rebuked Trump’s statement that he held ‘both countries responsible’ for the deteriorated relationship between the United States and Russia…Some Republicans in both the House and Senate — even some typically seen as allies to the President — said in the hours following the news conference that they were concerned over what they heard Monday.”
–Lauren Fox, “Top Republicans in Congress break with Trump over Putin comments,” CNN Politics, CNN.com, July 16, 2018 5:34 pm