Putin Denies Russian Meddling: ‘Watch My Lips: No’

Russian President Vladimir Putin again denied that his country waged an influence campaign targeting the 2016 U.S. election, telling reporters Thursday: “Watch my lips: No.” Putin mistakenly attributed the phrase to Ronald Reagan, but it was actually used by George H.W. Bush when he famously said, “read my lips: no new taxes.” (The claim famously ended up untrue, as new taxes were levied during his presidency.) Putin called the U.S. intelligence community’s assessment a “lie” aimed at pushing an agenda. “All those things are fictional, illusory, and provocations, lies. All these are used for domestic American political agendas. The anti-Russian card is played by different political forces inside the United States to trade on that and consolidate their positions inside,” Putin added.