Russian Jews Likely Interfered in US Election: Putin
The Russian President Vladimir Putin told NBC he doesn’t care about alleged Russian interference in the US presidential election because the actions weren’t connected to his government, further suggesting “Ukrainians, Tatars or Jews” might have been involved.
The Russian President Vladimir Putin told NBC he doesn’t care about alleged Russian interference in the US presidential election because the actions weren’t connected to his government, further suggesting “Ukrainians, Tatars or Jews” might have been involved.
In an interview with the US television network, the Russian president was asked if he condoned the interference by 13 Russian nationals and three Russian companies detailed in a US indictment.
“I do not care at all, because they do not represent the government,” he said, according to the interview transcript posted Saturday by the Kremlin.
“Maybe they are not even Russians but Ukrainians, Tatars or Jews but with Russian citizenship, which should also be checked; maybe they have dual citizenship of a green card; maybe the US paid them for this. How can you know that? I do not know either,” he said.
Mr. Putin argued he hasn’t seen any evidence of the alleged interference, noting that “We in Russia cannot prosecute anyone as long as they have not violated Russian law. At least send us a piece of paper … Give us a document. Give us an official request. And we’ll take a look at it.”
In November, US President Donald Trump said Putin told him “he absolutely did not meddle in our election. He did not do what they are saying he did.”
Putin described the accusations as “ridiculous,” saying, “Could anyone really believe that Russia, thousands of miles away … influenced the outcome of the election? Doesn’t that sound ridiculous even to you?” Adding, “It’s not our goal to interfere. We do not see what goal we would accomplish by interfering. There’s no goal.”
