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| Indictments Present a New Political Reality for a President Crying ‘Hoax’ | Indictments Present a New Political Reality for a President Crying ‘Hoax’ |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| WASHINGTON — Last November, President Trump told reporters that he believed the Russian president, Vladimir V. Putin, when he vigorously denied having meddled in the 2016 presidential election, an allegation that Mr. Trump has repeatedly called a hoax. | WASHINGTON — Last November, President Trump told reporters that he believed the Russian president, Vladimir V. Putin, when he vigorously denied having meddled in the 2016 presidential election, an allegation that Mr. Trump has repeatedly called a hoax. |
| “Every time he sees me he says I didn’t do that, and I really believe that when he tells me that, he means it,” Mr. Trump said at the time. | “Every time he sees me he says I didn’t do that, and I really believe that when he tells me that, he means it,” Mr. Trump said at the time. |
| On Friday, Robert S. Mueller III, the special counsel, indicted 13 Russian nationals and described a vast, sophisticated Russian operation to interfere in the election, delivering to Mr. Trump the kind of evidence that the president has long sought to dismiss as political attacks from his rivals. | On Friday, Robert S. Mueller III, the special counsel, indicted 13 Russian nationals and described a vast, sophisticated Russian operation to interfere in the election, delivering to Mr. Trump the kind of evidence that the president has long sought to dismiss as political attacks from his rivals. |
| Mr. Mueller’s indictments do not directly address the question of whether Mr. Trump or any of his campaign associates colluded with Russia in the effort to affect the presidential election. Mr. Trump has insisted that “there is no collusion,” and he repeated that contention Friday afternoon in his first comment on the Russian operation described in the indictments. | |
| “Russia started their anti-US campaign in 2014, long before I announced that I would run for President,” he tweeted shortly after departing the White House for Mar-a-Lago, his estate in Florida. “The results of the election were not impacted. The Trump campaign did nothing wrong — no collusion!” | |
| But by laying out in excruciating detail the evidence of Russian meddling spanning the last four years, Mr. Mueller instantly created a new political reality for Mr. Trump. | |
| It remains unclear how the president will respond to that reality. In addition to saying that he believed Mr. Putin’s denial, Mr. Trump has repeatedly condemned those who have said that the Russian meddling occurred, including members of his own intelligence community. | It remains unclear how the president will respond to that reality. In addition to saying that he believed Mr. Putin’s denial, Mr. Trump has repeatedly condemned those who have said that the Russian meddling occurred, including members of his own intelligence community. |
| “This Russia thing with Trump and Russia is a made-up story. It’s an excuse by the Democrats for having lost an election that they should’ve won,” Mr. Trump told Lester Holt, the NBC News anchor, in an interview last May. | “This Russia thing with Trump and Russia is a made-up story. It’s an excuse by the Democrats for having lost an election that they should’ve won,” Mr. Trump told Lester Holt, the NBC News anchor, in an interview last May. |
| In September, the president tweeted that “the Russia hoax continues, now it’s ads on Facebook. What about the totally biased and dishonest Media coverage in favor of Crooked Hillary?” | In September, the president tweeted that “the Russia hoax continues, now it’s ads on Facebook. What about the totally biased and dishonest Media coverage in favor of Crooked Hillary?” |
| PolitiFact called Mr. Trump’s denial of Russian meddling its 2017 “Lie of the Year.” | PolitiFact called Mr. Trump’s denial of Russian meddling its 2017 “Lie of the Year.” |
| Since his election, Mr. Trump has often privately expressed concern that the charges of Russian meddling undermine the legitimacy of his presidency. He has told associates that if he accepts the premise of Russian meddling, it would call into question the idea that he won the election on his own merits. | |
| In news conferences, on Twitter and at campaign rallies, he has called the Russia investigation “fake news” and has repeatedly predicted that Mr. Mueller’s investigation will end without finding much. | In news conferences, on Twitter and at campaign rallies, he has called the Russia investigation “fake news” and has repeatedly predicted that Mr. Mueller’s investigation will end without finding much. |
| In fact, the indictments on Friday were cited by Rod J. Rosenstein, the deputy attorney general, as proof of the great lengths to which the Russians went to infiltrate the United States political system. | In fact, the indictments on Friday were cited by Rod J. Rosenstein, the deputy attorney general, as proof of the great lengths to which the Russians went to infiltrate the United States political system. |