From public speeches to hushed private conversations, this year’s Aspen Security Forum has been dominated by a single question: Why is Donald Trump so insistent on meeting with Vladimir Putin? Five days after the Trump-Putin summit in Helsinki, the annual gathering of dozens of current and former government officials, policy wonks, and journalists has been consumed by speculation about Trump’s intent. Theories have ranged from the cautious to the fantastical: Trump is stubborn and still learning how government works; Trump is a longtime Russian agent.

The extent to which political polarization has infected a field that views itself as less partisan was clear during coffee-break conversations in the shadows of the Rocky Mountains. Democrats accused Trump of treason and said that he should be impeached. Mainstream Republicans wrestled with whether now was the time to publicly break with Trump. Current and former Trump Administration officials angrily defended the President. The impact of the Russian meddling was being exaggerated, the collusion allegations were false, and the cartoonish depictions of the President were unfair, they said. There was only one area, it seemed, where consensus existed. Helsinki had raised new questions about the President’s judgment, loyalty, and fears—particularly regarding Putin.

A sense of anxiety hovered over normally staid policy discussions. In one forum, a Microsoft executive disclosed that Russian military intelligence has targeted at least three candidates running for election in the U.S. this year. In another, Dan Coats, the director of National Intelligence and the country’s highest-ranking intelligence officer, expressed surprise and concern about Trump’s meeting with Putin. Coats, a former senator from Indiana known for his folksy, low-key manner, transfixed a standing-room-only crowd during an hour-long question-and-answer session with Andrea Mitchell of NBC News. Near the end of the forum, Mitchell informed Coats that she had some breaking news: “The White House has announced on Twitter that Vladimir Putin is coming to the White House in the fall.”“Say that again,” Coats replied, leaning toward Mitchell and eliciting laughter across the room. After she repeated the news, Coats took a deep breath and replied, “O.K.” Coats paused, chuckled, and said, “That’s going to be special,” prompting more laughter from the audience.

A video of the exchange quickly went viral and sparked reports that Coats’s future in the Administration might be short-lived. The exchange infuriated Trump and other White House officials, who saw it as disrespectful toward the President. Intelligence officials blamed the White House for tweeting news of a second summit while Coats was on a live panel with a journalist. “I think what’s on everybody’s mind is that we’re gonna experience another Comey moment,” an unnamed U.S. intelligence official told CNN, referring to Trump’s firing of James Comey, the former F.B.I. director.

Dan Coats, the director of National Intelligence, speaking with Andrea Mitchell of NBC News at the Aspen Security Forum. Photograph by Dan Bayer / Aspen Security Forum

A lifelong Republican who is close to Vice-President Mike Pence, Coats seems to embody the struggle of serving Trump. On Monday, hours after Trump challenged the intelligence community’s conclusion that Russia interfered in the 2016 election, Coats issued a public statement defending the findings. Asked by Mitchell why he issued the statement, Coats said, “I was just doing my job.” He later warned that the meddling was continuing in 2018. “It’s undeniable that the Russians are taking the lead on this,” he said. “Basically, they are the ones that are trying to undermine our basic values and divide us with our allies. They are the ones trying to wreak havoc over our election process.” Coats called Russia “by far” the U.S.’s most aggressive cyberattacker.

When asked if he approved of Trump’s decision to meet alone with Putin in Helsinki, Coats replied, “I would have suggested a different way.” He added, “But that’s not my role. That’s not my job.”

Coats then openly questioned two central assumptions underlying Trump’s summitry with Putin and the North Korean leader, Kim Jong Un. Coats said that he doubted that Putin has enough influence to pressure Iran to withdraw its forces from Syria—a goal of Trump’s summit with Putin. And Coats said that he was skeptical that North Korea would abide by an agreement to give up its nuclear arsenal. “I’m a Reagan guy,” he said. “Trust and verify.”

Later that day, Rod Rosenstein, the Deputy Attorney General and the Justice Department’s chief protector of the special counsel, Robert Mueller, delivered a speech that differed dramatically from Coats’s comments in terms of style but was similarly pointed. Dressed in a navy-blue suit and a pink-striped tie, Rosenstein announced that the Justice Department would now alert the American public if a foreign government was attempting to undermine an election.

Unequivocal in his language and tone, Rosenstein gave a full-throated endorsement of Coats and his warnings about Russia. “As Director Coats made clear, these actions are persistent, they are pervasive, and they are meant to undermine America’s democracy on a daily basis, regardless of whether it is election time or not," Rosenstein said. He added, “The American people have a right to know if foreign governments are targeting them with propaganda.”

Coats and Rosenstein, who has defied pressure from Trump to fire Mueller, both spoke truth. Both received standing ovations. Both are likely to lose their jobs if they keep it up.