https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/14/us/politics/trump-russia-putin.html

WASHINGTON — It was a jarring moment, even for an American leader whose curious attraction to Russia has often resulted in mixed messages from the United States.

Just a few hours after President Trump doused expectations of extracting any confession from President Vladimir V. Putin on Russia’s election meddling when they meet on Monday, his own Justice Department issued a sweeping indictment of 12 Russian intelligence agents for hacking the Democratic National Committee and the Clinton presidential campaign.

Whether it is Russia’s interference in the election, its annexation of Crimea or its intervention in Syria, Mr. Trump’s statements either undercut, or flatly contradict, those of his lieutenants.

The disconnect is so profound that it often seems Mr. Trump is pursuing one Russia policy, set on ushering in a gauzy new era of cooperation with Mr. Putin, while the rest of his administration is pursuing another, set on countering a revanchist power that the White House has labeled one of the greatest threats to American security and prosperity.

As Mr. Trump prepares to meet with Mr. Putin in Finland, diplomats and former government officials said these contradictions would undermine both the president’s efforts to cultivate a relationship with Mr. Putin and his government’s efforts to halt Russia’s campaigns to damage American democratic institutions and bully its neighbors.

This past week provided a spectacle of crossed signals on Russia. In Europe, Mr. Trump disparaged the investigation of the special counsel, Robert S. Mueller III, into Russia’s interference in the 2016 election, while in Washington, the deputy attorney general, Rod J. Rosenstein, somberly announced the latest round of indictments in the case.

“I call it the rigged witch hunt,” Mr. Trump said, as Prime Minister Theresa May of Britain looked on. “I think that really hurts our country and it really hurts our relationship with Russia.”

A few hours later, Mr. Trump’s director of national intelligence, Dan Coats, compared the danger of Russian cyberattacks to the stream of terrorist threats against the United States before Sept. 11, 2001. He said Mr. Putin should be held responsible for them.

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In his hawkishness toward Moscow, Mr. Coats lines up with other members of Mr. Trump’s national security team, from Defense Secretary Jim Mattis to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. The national security adviser, John R. Bolton, has publicly encouraged Mr. Trump to keep pressing Russia on election meddling, noting that in a preparatory meeting with him, Mr. Putin denied Russian state involvement, but not any Russian involvement at all.

“The president will have to pursue that further, and I think that’s one reason he and President Putin need to have this conversation,” Mr. Bolton said two weeks ago.

The White House enshrined a tough approach to Russia in its national security strategy, which was written under the direction of Mr. Bolton’s predecessor, Lt. Gen. H. R. McMaster, who spoke regularly about the threat Moscow posed to America’s institutions.

The document says Russia and China “are determined to make economies less free and less fair, to grow their militaries, and to control information and data to repress their societies and expand their influence.”

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=4026210&forum_id=5#36428586)

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These Transgender Recruits Are Ready. The Military Isn’t.

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Inside China’s Dystopian Dreams: A.I., Shame and Lots of Cameras

EDITORS’ PICKS

These Transgender Recruits Are Ready. The Military Isn’t.

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(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=4026210&forum_id=5#36428758)

These Transgender Recruits Are Ready. The Military Isn’t.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=4026210&forum_id=5#36428784)

WASHINGTON – President Trump’s director of national intelligence on Friday painted a stark picture of cyber security threats to the nation, comparing the warning signs to those that flashed red before 9/11 — and taking a much tougher stance towards Russia than his boss has.

“The system is blinking,” Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats said in remarks at the Hudson Institute. “I believe we’re at a critical point.”

Coats’ comments came hours after the Justice Department indicted a dozen Russian military intelligence officers for attempting to undermine the 2016 election in part by hacking into the Democratic National Committee.

The charges upped the tension surrounding Trump’s meeting Monday with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Helsinki, the first preplanned, standalone meeting between the two leaders.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=4026210&forum_id=5#36428826)

Despite Kremlin denials, Coats said, people affiliated with the St. Petersburg-based Internet Research Agency continue to create social media accounts to masquerade as Americans and sow division. Russian government actors have also targeted businesses, state and local governments, critical infrastructure and manufacturing sectors, he said.

“Russia has been the most aggressive foreign actor, no question,” Coats said. “They continue their efforts to undermine our democracy.”

Indiana Rep. Jim Banks tweeted that Coats' warning "highlights why it is vital for President Trump to confront Putin next week."

Indiana Sen. Joe Donnelly on Friday joined top congressional Democrats who called for Trump to cancel his meeting with Putin. Donnelly said that would "make clear that efforts to undermine our elections, attack critical U.S. infrastructure, and act as a destabilizing force abroad will not be tolerated.”

Trump has said he accepts Putin’s denials of Russian involvement in the 2016 elections.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=4026210&forum_id=5#36428830)