- Russian President Vladimir Putin said Russia was ready to hand a transcript of Trump's meeting with Russia's foreign minister over to U.S. lawmakers if that would help
- He said Moscow initially found debates about Russia meddling in U.S. politics as 'funny' but said Moscow is now 'concerned'
- Putin dismissed the U.S. politicians who came up with the 'nonsense' as either being 'stupid' or 'dangerous and unscrupulous'
- Inveighs against 'political schizophrenia' in Washington
- Putin implied that someone is hampering Trump's efforts at being President
- Complains Trump isn't being allowed to work 'at full capacity'
- 'It's hard to imagine what else can these people who generate such nonsense and rubbish can dream up next'
Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday that U.S. President Donald Trump had not passed any secrets onto Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov during a meeting in Washington last week and that he could prove it.
Speaking at a news conference alongside Italian Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni, Putin quipped that Lavrov had not passed what he said were the non-existent secrets onto him either.
The Russian strongman complained about what he said were signs of 'political schizophrenia' in the United States. Backing up Trump, Putin said the U.S. president wasn't being allowed to do his job properly.
'It's hard to imagine what else can these people who generate such nonsense and rubbish can dream up next,' Putin complained.
Then he mocked the uproar that has thrown the White House into a tailspin. "I spoke to him (Lavrov) today," said Putin, smiling. "I'll be forced to issue him with a reprimand because he did not share these secrets with us. Not with me, nor with representatives of Russia's intelligence services. It was very bad of him."
It isn't at all clear that the Russians would be able to produce a document that would disprove a bombshell Washington Post report that said President Trump passed on highly classified information to Lavrov during the meeting.
The word 'record' in Russian can mean a recording, according to the New York Times. But a Kremlin aide, Yuri Ushakov, later told reporters that Moscow had in its possession a written record of the conversation, not an audio recording.
Putin said Russia was ready to hand a transcript of Trump's meeting with Lavrov over to Congress if that would help reassure them.
Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, who was in the room during the Oval Office meeting, smiled and laughed when asked Wednesday whether he thinks 'the Russians were bugging the Oval Office.'
'I would have no way to know that,' Tillerson responded.
Putin's jokes and admonitions come as lawmakers from both parties have been calling for the White House to explain what happened during Trump's Oval Office meeting with the Russians.
Trump agreed to host Lavrov after a personal request from Putin, the Washington Post reported. Lawmakers are already demanding the White House turn over any U.S. transcript or other information that would convey what happened.
There's more of it
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/new...-Russia-secrets.html