Trump White House refuses to rule out helping Putin prosecute former U.S. ambassador to Russia who Kremlin claim was involved in massive fraud - and who is critic of both the Russian strongman and the U.S. president
- Putin offered special counsel Robert Mueller access to the 12 Russians he indicted in exchange for Russian access to American officials for questioning
- 'The president is going to meet with his team and we'll let you know when we have an announcement on that,' Sarah Huckabee Sanders said of the offer
- The State Department said Wednesday the 'Russian assertions are absurd.'
- The Russia's Prosecutor General's office want to speak with staffers from State, Homeland Security and the CIA, as well as former Ambassador Michael McFaul
President Donald Trump is considering allowing prosecutors from the Kremlin to question American officials - including a former U.S. ambassador to Russia - about crimes Moscow alleges they committed.
President Vladimir Putin raised the idea in his press conference with Trump in Helsinki, offering special counsel Robert Mueller access to the 12 Russians he indicted in exchange.
White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders is not ruling out the possibility.
Former Ambassador to Russia Michael McFaul is one of the 11 Americans the Kremlin wants to talk to
White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders is not ruling out the possibility of letting Russian prosecutors talk to American officials
'The president is going to meet with his team and we'll let you know when we have an announcement on that,' she said at her briefing on Wednesday.
She remained ambiguous when asked again if Moscow would be given access to former Ambassador Michael McCaul and other U.S. officials.
'There was some conversation about it, but there wasn't a commitment made on behalf of the United States. The president will work with his team and we'll let you know if there is an announcement on that front,' she said.
Russian prosecutors on Tuesday said they want to question McFaul and other Americans over alleged monetary crimes.
McFaul, who was ambassador under President Barack Obama and has become a harsh critic of Trump and Putin, says he's innocent.
He wrote on Twitter: 'I hope the White House corrects the record and denounces in categorical terms this ridiculous request from Putin. Not doing so creates moral equivalency between a legitimacy US indictment of Russian intelligence officers and a crazy, completely fabricated story invented by Putin.'
And the State Department said Wednesday that the 'Russian assertions are absurd.'
Sanders' response came up in the department's press briefing and spokesperson Heather Nauert did not mince words.
-
White House still isn't ruling out Putin's idea that Trump... 
Italian wife of George Papadopoulos strolls through the... 
'You've upstaged Anna Chapman': What Kremlin handler told... 
Trump is asked if Russia is STILL targeting the U.S. and... -
Putin offers to interrogate 12 of his own spies accused of...
Share this article
'I can't answer on behalf of the White House but what I can tell you is that he overall assertions that have come out of the Russian government are absolutely absurd,' she said. 'The fact that they want to question 11 American citizens and the assertions that the Russian government is making about those American citizens we do not stand by those assertions.'
She later added: 'Russian assertions are absurd.'
The list of U.S. officials that the Russia's Prosecutor General's office announced on Tuesday that they wanted to speak with included members of the State Department, Department of Homeland Security and the CIA, as well as McFaul.
Their request followed Putin's offer on Monday, when he mentioned the alleged crimes of American-British financier Bill Browder during his press conference with Trump in Helsinki after being asked if he'd given Mueller access to question the 12 Russians indicted by the Justice Department on charges related to the hacking of Democratic emails.
Bill Browder said he donated 'zero' to Hillary Clinton's campaign
Michael McFaul called Putin's request 'ridiculous'
'This kind of effort should be a mutual one,' Putin said. 'We would expect that the Americans would reciprocate' and allow access for questioning 'the officers of law enforcement and intelligence services of the United States, whom we believe have something to do with illegal actions on the territory of Russia.'
He then went on to single out Browder, a London-based financier who led a global human rights crusade against Moscow, much to the frustration of the Russian government, which has repeatedly gone after him.
Browder has another tie to Trump - Kremlin-linked attorney Natalia Veselnitskaya brought up his name during the infamous June 2016 Trump Tower meeting as a corrupt donor to Hillary Clinton's campaign.
'Business associates of Mr. Browder have earned over one and a half billion dollars in Russia. They never paid any taxes, neither in Russia nor in the United States and yet the money escaped the country, they were transferred to the United States,' Putin said.
'They sent a huge amount of money - 400 million - as a contribution to the campaign of Hillary Clinton' he added. 'Well, that's their personal case, it might have been legal, the contribution itself, but the way the money was earned was illegal.'
Browder denies giving any money to Clinton's campaign. 'I donated zero,' he wrote on Twitter.
Putin took his allegations a step further and insinuated U.S. intelligence agencies were involved.
'We have solid reason to believe that some intelligence officers accompanied and guided these transactions,' he said.
Browder slammed Putin for his request.
'Let's call a spade a spade here,' he said on FOX Business Network on Wednesday. 'The people that they want to hand over, the Russians want to have handed over, are me and a bunch of officials, Mike McFaul the former ambassador, Kyle Parker the person in Congress who drafted the Magnitsky Act, Bob Otto a Senior State Department Official and then a bunch of special agents from the Department of Homeland Security who have been investigating Russian money laundering connected to the Magnitsky case. And they're saying we haven't decided whether we want to hand them over? That is absolutely appalling.'
Putin offered no evidence to support his claims about the donations to Clinton or the assistance from U.S. intelligence officials.
U.S. intelligence agencies have said Russians influenced the 2016 elections, a charge President Trump said he believed on Tuesday - a clarification of his comments in Helsinki where he back Putin against the U.S. agencies and found himself engulfed in a political firestorm that saw him criticized by members of his own party and own intelligence staff.
Trump also indicated he would consider Putin's offer.
'He offered to have the people working on the case come and work with their investigators, with respect to the 12 people. I think that's an incredible offer. Ok? Thank you,' Trump said.
Bill Browder has earned the wrath of the Kremlin
Putin offered special counsel Robert Mueller access to the 12 Russians he indicted in exchange for Russian access to American officials for questioning
Secretary of State John Kerry meets Russia's Civil Society Representatives at Spaso House on May 8, 2013, with US Ambassador to Russia Michael McFaul (C) attending
Browder spoke to The New York Times about Putin's request and denied having funneled $400 million into Clinton's campaign.
'This is just part of their weird non-fact-based emotional reaction,' said Browder, who would not say where he was located out of concerns for his safety. 'He has become unhinged.'
Ironically Browder made his millions in Russia during Putin's first term as president.
Browder, who co-founded Hermitage Capital Management, became the largest portfolio investor in Russia, with more than $4 billion under his management.
But he also became a harsh critic of Moscow's weak corporate governing standards, earning him the wrath of the Kremlin.
His offices in Moscow were raided and one of his top aides, Sergei Magnitsky, was arrested.
Magnitsky, 37, died in November 2009 after nearly 11 months in prison awaiting trial. Browder charges he was tortured during that time.
Magnitksy's death sparked the billionaire into action. He lobbied Congress to pass the Magnitsky Act, signed into law by President Barack Obama in December 2012.
The law imposed visa sanctions on and froze the assets of those involved in Magnitsky's detention. It was the first time in 35 years the U.S. had sanctioned Russia.
In 2013, Browder was convicted of tax fraud in absentia by a Russian court. The Russian government has pushed several times to get Interpol to issue arrest orders against him.
