Trump tries to walk back remark that appeared to side with Russia in meddling probe
WASHINGTON - President Donald Trump, seeking to stanch a national furor, said on Tuesday that he misspoke in Helsinki, Finland, and meant to say that he indeed does see Russia as the culprit that interfered in the 2016 presidential election, just as U.S. intelligence agencies have found.
The president's comments were unlikely to satisfy his critics in both parties. His new version was undercut by his fuller and widely watched remarks on Monday. Also, Trump no longer was speaking truth to power alongside Russia's President Vladimir Putin, but addressing reporters from the White House alongside Republican lawmakers.
In his attempt to walk back his Helsinki remarks, Trump said he accepts the consensus of American intelligence agencies that Russia interfered in the election. Yet in a sign that he cannot fully accept those findings - seeing them as a
