Trump: ‘People Will Die’ Because of Russian Meddling Claims

President Trump on Saturday defended Russia against election meddling claims and said he “really believes” President Vladimir Putin when he insists the Kremlin did not interfere. After the two had “two or three” brief chats on the sidelines of the APEC summit in Da Nang, Vietnam, Trump said Putin seemed “very insulted” by the accusations against Moscow, “which is not a good thing for our country.” “You can only ask so many times... he said he absolutely did not meddle in our election,” Trump told reporters on Air Force One. He went on to imply that the ongoing Russia investigation was a scheme concocted by Democrats. “This artificial Democratic hit job gets in the way and that’s a shame because people will die because of it,” he said, according to Politico. “Everybody knows there was no collusion,” he said. The comments come days after special counsel Robert Mueller’s team produced its first indictments in the ongoing Russia investigation. Trump’s former campaign chairman, Paul Manafort, and his business partner Rick Gates were hit with charges in connection with the probe last month.