5/3/2019

2016 ELECTION/ROBERT MUELLER/RUSSIA/RUSSIA INVESTIGATION/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “President Trump telephoned President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia on Friday [5-3-19] for what both men described as a lengthy, positive conversation, in which they dismissed two years of investigations into Russia’s intervention in the 2016 presidential campaign as a ‘Russian Hoax’ and a mountain that ‘ended up being a mouse.’ Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office after his first exchange with Mr. Putin since the release of the report by the special counsel, Robert S. Mueller III, which asserted that ‘the Russian government interfered in the 2016 presidential election in sweeping and systematic fashion,’ Mr. Trump said he did not broach the threat of Russian interference in future elections with Mr. Putin. Instead, the two leaders pledged to embark on a new era of cooperation on issues from North Korea to Venezuela, where Mr. Trump said the Russian leader ‘is not looking at all to get involved, other than he’d like to see something positive happen.’ The timing of the call, two weeks after the release of the Mueller report, suggested a president eager to lift the cloud of the investigation from his dealings with Moscow and return to the policy of warmer relations with Russia that he once promised as a candidate.”

Mark Landler, “Trump Says He Discussed the ‘Russian Hoax’ in a Phone Call With Putin,” The New York Times online, May 3, 2019