Russian President Vladimir Putin's proposal to aid special counsel Robert Mueller's probe of the 2016 U.S. election came with a caveat sure to prevent any real agreement: Russian agents would be granted access to interview Americans on U.S. soil, as well as a key Putin critic.
In a news conference Monday in Helsinki alongside President Donald Trump, Putin was asked whether he'd be willing to extradite 12 Russians indicted in the U.S. last week for hacking Democrats during the 2016 election and then releasing stolen emails to damage Hillary Clinton's campaign. Minutes earlier, Trump said Putin had an "interesting idea" on the subject.
Putin seized the opportunity, suggesting that Mueller's team travel to Russia for interviews with "alleged" intelligence officers indicted by the special counsel. "Official representatives of the United States, including the members of this very commission headed by Mr. Mueller — we can let them into the country and they will be present at this questioning."