Steven Mnuchin: ‘Makes no sense’ for Trump to say if he accepts Putin’s denial on election interference

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said it would make “no sense” for President Trump to definitively state whether he accepts Russian President Vladimir Putin’s denial that the Kremlin meddled in the 2016 election.

Speaking Sunday on ABC’s “This Week,” Mnuchin would not say whether the U.S. would place additional sanctions on Russia, nor would he say if Trump takes Putin’s word in denying he attempted to influence the electon results.

“Everybody’s focused on that and what they should be focused on is what was discussed in the substance of the meeting,” he said. “And let me just say, why would President Trump broadcast what he said in the meeting? Strategically, that makes no sense.”

Earlier on Sunday morning, Trump tweeted that Putin, who he met last week, at the G-20 summit in Hamburg, Germany, did deny U.S. intelligence agencies who say Russia interfered in the election. He said that sanctions were not discussed and that “now it is time to move forward in working constructively with Russia!”

But Trump did not say whether he accepted the denial, though the Russian government has said that he did.

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