“Democrats are happy to say President Trump undermined American democracy. That he patted Vladimir Putin on the back for interfering in U.S. elections. That he’s being blackmailed by Russia,” the AP reports.

“But that he committed treason? That’s too far for some leading Democrats worried about sending the wrong message during an election year.”

“A debate has raged in Democratic circles this week over how strongly to condemn Trump’s comments in Helsinki, where, standing by Putin’s side, the U.S. president refused to say he believed American intelligence over Putin’s denials about Russian election interference. Trump later sought to walk back his stance, saying he misspoke using a double negative.”

Time: “As the Mueller investigation unfolds in the coming weeks and months, expect the Kremlin and state media to repeatedly bring up this list of suspicious Americans and demand to know why the U.S. has not yet provided access to them. It will not actually address the charges made by the special counsel. But it may succeed in clouding an already complex investigation with a head-spinning barrage of claims and counter­claims. All the easier for the Russian President—and his American counterpart—to obscure the actual evidence.”

A new Axios/Survey Monkey poll finds 79% of Republicans approve of President Trump’s performance during his meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin while just 18% disapprove.

”This poll foreshadows the coming national drama. Every piece of data, and virtually every public action of elected Republican officials, shows Trump will have overwhelming and probably unbreakable party support, regardless of what Robert Mueller finds with his Russia probe.”

A new CBS News poll finds 68% of Republicans approve of Trump’s performance with Putin.