Trump: I never said Russia didn’t meddle in election

President Trump on Sunday claimed he never said Russia didn’t meddle in the 2016 presidential race, noting the Russian “hoax” was that his campaign colluded with Russia.

“I never said Russia did not meddle in the election, I said ‘it may be Russia, or China or another country or group, or it may be a 400 pound genius sitting in bed and playing with his computer,’ ” Trump tweeted.

“The Russian ‘hoax’ was that the Trump campaign colluded with Russia – it never did!”

I never said Russia did not meddle in the election, I said “it may be Russia, or China or another country or group, or it may be a 400 pound genius sitting in bed and playing with his computer.” The Russian “hoax” was that the Trump campaign colluded with Russia – it never did!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 18, 2018

{mosads}His comments come after 13 Russian nationals and three Russian groups were charged with multiple counts of attempting to interfere in the 2016 election.

The indictment alleges the goal of the Russians was to support then-candidate Donald Trump and hurt his Democratic opponent, Hillary Clinton.

Some of the Russians allegedly posed as Americans and communicated with “unwitting individuals associated with the Trump Campaign and with other political activists to seek to coordinate political activities.”

Trump in a tweet late Saturday said his national security advisor, H.R. McMaster, forgot something when he said in Munich the indictments show “incontrovertible” evidence of Russia’s election meddling.

“General McMaster forgot to say that the results of the 2016 election were not impacted or changed by the Russians and that the only Collusion was between Russia and Crooked H, the DNC and the Dems. Remember the Dirty Dossier, Uranium, Speeches, Emails and the Podesta Company!” Trump tweeted.

Trump has repeatedly denied the notion that his campaign coordinated with the Russians to influence the 2016 race and has accused Democrats of improper collusion with the FBI.

Trump last year said he believed Russian President Vladimir Putin when Putin said he didn’t meddle in the 2016 election.

“Every time he sees me he says, ‘I didn’t do that,’ and I really believe that when he tells me that, he means it,” Trump said last November.

Trump later sought to clarify his comments on whether he believed Russia meddled in the 2016 presidential race, saying: “I believe our intel agencies.”

Multiple U.S. intelligence agencies have concluded Russia interfered in the 2016 presidential race.

This report was updated at 8:30 a.m.