There is new reporting tonight that far from being a nuisance to him, President Donald Trump actually approved the release of the Russian indictments before his summit with Vladimir Putin.

Per Bloomberg:

Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein went to Trump last week and offered him the choice: before or after the Putin summit on Monday in Helsinki? Trump chose before, ultimately putting the issue into the spotlight just 72 hours before the high-stakes meeting, the people said.

Apparently Trump thought that this would help “strengthen his hand in the talks.”

And CNN is confirming Bloomberg’s reporting:

CNN can now confirm Rod Rosenstein did in fact give Trump the option to delay announcing the Russian hacking indictment until *after* the Helsinki summit. The White House told Rosenstein it was OK to announce before the summit, so he did. (from @Kevinliptakcnn and @LauraAJarrett) — Marshall Cohen (@MarshallCohen) July 17, 2018

Of course, this reporting comes after some pro-Trumpers were trying to argue this was a way of undercutting the President.

[photo via Getty Images]

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