Trump, hitting back, accuses Schumer and Pelosi of Russia ties
New York senator responds by challenging president to reveal his own links to Moscow under oath
NEW YORK — President Donald Trump, his administration under siege for contacts with Russian officials, called for “an immediate investigation” into Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer’s own ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin. He later called to investigate House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi for similar ties, posting a 2010 photo of her with Russian officials at a meeting.
Trump tweeted a photo Friday of Schumer meeting with Putin in New York in 2003. The picture shows them drinking coffee and eating donuts.
The president called for a probe into Schumer’s “ties to Russia and Putin” and called the New York senator “A total hypocrite!”
Schumer responded on Twitter a short time later writing that he would “happily talk” under oath about his meeting with Putin, which took place “in full view of press and public.”
He then challenged Trump to do the same and added a second tweet, noting that “for the record, they were Krispy Kreme donuts.”
The president then posted a second tweet demanding “a second investigation, after Schumer, of Pelosi for her close ties to Russia, and lying about it.” Pelosi said Friday she had never met the Russian ambassador to the US, Sergey Kislyak; the photo posted on Politico shows her sitting at a table with a number of Russian officials, including the envoy and then-president Dimitri Medvedev. Pelosi later clarified that she never had a solo meeting with the ambassador.
Trump’s tweets come a day after Attorney General Jeff Sessions came under scrutiny for his two meetings with a Russian ambassador.