Even US intel chief in the dark about Trump-Putin talks
ASPEN, Colo. — Even Donald Trump’s intelligence chief doesn’t know what was said in the president’s one-on-one meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin this week in Helsinki.
Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats was also unaware that Putin was being invited to Washington.
Coats made those surprise admissions Thursday in his first public comments since rebutting Trump’s questioning of the U.S. intelligence assessment that Russia interfered in the 2016 election.
Speaking at the Aspen Security Forum in Colorado, Coats tiptoed around any potential conflict with his boss, but was upfront about some of his misgivings, saying that he wished Trump had made different statements Monday in Helsinki after meeting Putin.