russian meddling. i believe that he feels he and russia did not meddle. i have great confidence in my intelligence people, but i will tell you that president putin was extremely strong and powerful in his denial today. i accept our intelligence community s conclusion that russia s meddling in the 2016 election took place. could be other people also. there s a lot of people out there. democrats responded with biting criticism. here s one. senator chris murphy of connecticut tweeted, been hearing the ridiculous rogue killers theory was where the saudis would go with this. absolutely extraordinary they were able to enlist the president of the united states as their pr agent to float it. and here s virginia s tim kaine tweeting, president trump s response to jamal khashoggi s disappearance reveals a man more willing to trust authoritarian leaders than reliable