“I understand why members would want to respond to what happened in Helsinki, and I think there’s concerns about just where the administration is with Russia,” said Senate Foreign Relations Chairman Bob Corker (R-Tenn.), who left the door open to possible new sanctions legislation in an interview with reporters.

Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) on Tuesday announced a pending proposal that would prod Trump to act faster on implementing mandatory sanctions Congress approved last year partly in response to Russian interference in the 2016 election, while also slapping on new penalties…

Sanctioning the 12 Russian military intelligence officers would amount to a tectonic shift for Trump, who has repeatedly slammed Mueller’s probe as a “witch hunt” and cast doubt on the veracity of what U.S. intelligence officials describe as Moscow’s ongoing effort to disrupt the midterms. But that’s not stopping some Republicans from entertaining the prospect of new bipartisan action against Putin’s government following Trump’s controversial one-on-one with the Russian president.