Democrats want briefing on Trump's private meeting with Putin

Senior House Democrats want to know what happened in Helsinki last week during President Trump's private meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin and are requesting a briefing from the Pentagon, State Department and U.S. intelligence chief.

Citing "profound concerns over what was said privately," Reps. Adam Smith (D-WA), ranking member on the House Armed Services Committee, Eliot Engel (D-NY), ranking member on the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, and Adam Schiff (D-CA), ranking member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, have sent a letter to Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats requesting a briefing.

"On July 16, 2018, President Trump held a private meeting with President Putin, where one other U.S. government employee attended -- a State Department interpreter," the letter states. "Since the meeting, Congress has received no notification from the White House or Executive Branch about the topics of the meeting or any purported deals or agreements reached on behalf of the United States. It also appears that President Trump's cabinet has not been briefed on the private meeting, and Congress must be made aware of some of the potential deals or agreements that Russia claims were struck."

The Democrats, who have requested a response by noon Thursday, note they would also like to discuss Russia's occupation of Crimea, ongoing conflict in eastern Ukraine, sanctions policy toward Russia and Syria, the U.S. commitment to NATO, counterterrorism cooperation, strategic stability and arms control and China.

Trump has been widely criticized for being too deferential to Putin during a press conference that followed the private meeting between the two.

Russia's defense spokesman said last week Russia is ready "to intensify contacts with its American colleagues through the General Staff and other available channels of communication," raising the possibility of new military cooperation with the United States.

On July 19, U.S. Central Command chief Gen. Joseph Votel said he has received no new guidance from the White House on military coordination with Russia, pointing out that the Fiscal Year 2016 National Defense Authorization Act prohibits it.

"Any space would have to be created by Congress or a waiver that they would approve to allow us to do something like that,” he said. "I have not asked for that at this point, and we'll see what direction comes down."

Since the meeting in Helsinki, the White House has taken steps to highlight some of the administration's tougher policies toward Russia, and the Pentagon announced Friday it would provide $200 million in military assistance to Ukraine to counter Russian-backed separatists.

Meanwhile, Under Secretary of Defense for Policy John Rood said last week the Pentagon has contacted the Russian government to arrange a meeting.

"We are in the process of trying to arrange a period of time -- a date, a place -- to meet to have strategic stability talks," he said during an interview at the Aspen Security Forum.

"We have proposed some dates to our Russian colleagues and we hope they will respond," he said. "It takes two to tango."