Putin refuses to look at Mueller indictment during Fox News interview

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday waved off a copy of special counsel Robert Mueller’s indictment of a dozen Russian officials Fox News anchor Chris Wallace tried to hand him during an interview.

The indictment, unsealed on Friday, names 12 officials in the country’s military intelligence agency, the GRU, and accuses them of working to hack the servers of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, the Democratic National Committee and emails associated with Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign in 2016. 

{mosads}”May I give this to you to look at, sir?” Wallace asked during an interview with the Russian leader in Helsinki, Finland. 

Putin sat motionless as Wallace held out a copy of the indictment and then gestured to a nearby table. 

“Here,” Wallace said, laying the papers down on the table.

Russian President Putin when pressed on his country’s alleged interference in the U.S. elections and indictments against Russian nationals: Russia as a state has never interfered with the internal affairs of the United States. #WallacePutinOnFox https://t.co/OqrOzjYveR pic.twitter.com/EzEYyttOmu

— Fox News (@FoxNews) July 16, 2018

Putin dismissed as “ridiculous” claims of Russian interference in the 2016 election.

“Interference with the domestic affairs of the United States — do you really believe that someone acting from the Russian territory could have influenced the United States and influenced the choice of millions of Americans?” he asked.

The exchange came shortly after the Russia leader met with President Trump in the Finnish capital for a highly anticipated summit.

During a joint news conference with Putin on Monday, Trump challenged the intelligence community’s determination that Russia interfered in the 2016 election, noting that his Russian counterpart had denied any such actions.

“They said they think it’s Russia. I have President Putin — he just said it’s not Russia,” Trump said, adding that he does not “see any reason why it would be” Russia.

Trump’s comments drew swift and bipartisan backlash.