“I draw a completely different conclusion from his,” Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) said. “And it’s my understanding he has now changed his mind a bit. But as a member of the Intelligence Committee I have seen no evidence at all that the Ukrainians were involved. And indeed it is more likely that this is part of Russian disinformation campaign, in my judgment.”

“Kennedy’s allegation that President Poroshenko was interfering in the 2016 election is a knowing fabrication,” said Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee who traveled to Ukraine this year. “Using the Senate as a platform to invent lies about foreign governments’ involvement in American elections I don’t think is terribly becoming of the institution.”…

While Kennedy’s comments earned him a shout-out from Trump on Twitter Monday, lawmakers have only raised more questions. One Senate Republican, summing up the mood in the conference, put it this way: “I watched it on Meet the Press and I was like: Huh?

“I don’t know what he’s saying. I don’t know if he’s purposefully confusing the issue. I know he’s defending the president and that’s part of what he’s doing,” the senator said.