The six-term congressman from Brooklyn said he had broken no laws and would remain in office, calling the matter an "aberration from which I've learned".
But protesters remain defiant in calling for the return of the country's first democratically elected president.
His latest remarks put him squarely on record opposing the administrative and electoral means by which Mr. Putin has ensured that his circle will remain in power, and calling for more strict civilian control over Russia's elections.
Do you feel the need to excessively remain in contact, by calling, texting for no other reason but to check where your partner is or who is he/she with almost every minute.
Meantime, his services remain in demand; calls come about every other week from lawyers or lenders representing other troubled companies in need of a seasoned turnaround specialist.
Earlier in the week, Branson, who campaigned for the UK to remain in the EU, called on the government to consider holding a second referendum, "based on the misrepresentations made by the leave campaign".
A year after they lost control of the Nassau County Legislature in a voter revolt set off by the county's fiscal crisis, all nine Republicans who remain in the Legislature called today on Thomas S. Gulotta, the embattled Republican county executive, not to run for a fourth term.
It raised the target level for the amount of fish that must remain in the ocean (called the maximum spawning potential) from 8% to 30%.
The couple remained in Britain, in calling distance of the Queen, who liked to have her daughters nearby, and Helena along with her youngest sister, Princess Beatrice, became the Queen's unofficial secretary.
Suggesting that he plans to remain in office despite calls from within his own Republican Party for his resignation, he said his "soul searching" had brought him to the biblical story of King David and "the way in which he fell mightily — he fell in very, very significant ways — but then picked up the pieces and built from there".
