DNI Dan Coats Did Not Say He Thinks Its Russia. He Said It Is Russia

UPI:

Intelligence chief Dan Coats: Russia meddled in 2016 election
July 17 (UPI) -- In a move not cleared by the White House, the top intelligence official in the United States has refuted President Donald Trump's remarks in Helsinki -- unequivocally affirming that the Russian government did act to interfere in the 2016 U.S. presidential election.

Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats issued a statement Monday.

"We have been clear in our assessments of Russian meddling in the 2016 election and their ongoing, pervasive efforts to undermine our democracy," he said. "And we will continue to provide unvarnished and objective intelligence in support of our national security."

Coats' statement broke with Trump, who expressed doubts at the Helsinki summit with Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin about the intelligence

Steve Schmidt:

“So Jeff Flake and Snowe and Sasse and all the rest of them can say ‘disgraceful, bad, terrible,’ but they actually have power to do something about it. This is an extraordinary moment, and the Congress is absolutely unwilling to exert oversight over this president. So Sasse and Snowe and Flake have it in their power to cut a deal with the Democrats to remove Mitch McConnell from power, who’s up in this up to his eyeballs as well.

“He [McConnell] was informed before the election that the Russians were meddling by President Obama and refused to take any action on it as well.”

BREAKING: NBC News has learned that an unscheduled principals meeting of Trump’s top national security advisers was convened this morning at the White House concerning Russia and the fall out from Helsinki. The meeting concluded before Trump spoke on camera today.

— Chris Jansing (@ChrisJansing) July 17, 2018