(CNN) A former US ambassador to Russia said Russian President Vladimir Putin was "probably joyful" about -- and may have enabled -- the conspiracy theory circulated by some Republicans that Ukraine, not Russia, interfered in the 2016 elections. "He's probably joyful that he has the world talking about something he may have been behind," former Ambassador Jon Huntsman told The Associated Press of Putin in an interview published Friday. At least nine witnesses in the impeachment inquiry testified that claims of Ukrainian meddling in 2016 were fabricated by the Russians or unsupported by evidence. House Republicans' report analyzing impeachment inquiry evidence thus far asserted that "senior Ukrainian government officials worked in 2016 to support Secretary (Hillary) Clinton." Claims of such a top-down effort by the Ukrainian government to defeat Trump are not supported by the evidence.

Source: CNN December 07, 2019 02:48 UTC