Washington sources reported that FBI director Christopher Wray said Wednesday that the US intelligence community stands by its view that Russia interfered in the 2016 US election, despite Vladimir Putin's denial this week to President Donald Trump. Wray said when asked about Putin's denial to Trump at their summit in Helsinki "He has got his view, he has expressed his view”.
Accordingly "The intelligence community's assessment has not changed and his view has not changed, which is that Russia attempted to interfere with the last election and that it continues to engage in malign influence operations to this day." He added those acts "aimed at sowing discord and divisiveness in this country”.
Previously on Monday, Trump appeared to accept
Putin's denial in a press conference after their meeting in Helsinki, sparking
outrage in Washington and a rare statement of disagreement by the head of the
US intelligence community, Director of National Intelligence, Dan Coats. Trump
said, reading a statement from the White House "He accepts our
intelligence community's conclusion that Russia's meddling in the 2016 election
took place".
