Democratic Senate Minority Leader, Charles Schumer of New York, just took Trump to task for admitting Russia’s spy chief into the country to meet with CIA Director Mike Pompeo.
Schumer demanded answers about what happened in the rendezvous by next Friday, February 9.
The Minority Leader wrote to Dan Coats, National Intelligence Director, demanding answers about the meeting with Sergey Naryshkin, director of the SVR, even though he was barred by Obama-era sanctions against Vladimir Putin’s Russia.
According to The Hill, Schumer released a statement today, saying:
While the U.S. frequently interacts with foreign governments, a U.S. meeting with the chief of the SVR a little more than a year after our Intelligence Community unanimously concluded that Russia interfered in the 2016 U.S. election raises a number important questions . . . The administration took little to no action, even as Russia continues its cyberattacks on the U.S. . . . Given these circumstances, the decision to host a senior Russian intelligence official at this juncture, and the Intelligence Community’s involvement in this decision, requires additional transparency for the American people.’
Schumer demanded to know what prior tête-à-têtes preceded the arrival of Putin’s top spies on sovereign U.S. soil.
Naryshkin’s visit is not the first direct exchange between the Trump administration and Putin’s spy network.
There was of course the infamous Oval Office meeting with then-Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak and foreign minister Sergei Lavrov, during which Trump shared his relief that firing former FBI chief James Comey had “eased pressure” caused by the Russia investigation and then proceeded to share sensitive Israeli intelligence with his overlords, ahem, visitors.
Four Trump officials have been indicted in Special Prosecutor Robert Mueller’s investigation into the Trump-Russia conspiracy.
Trump has recruited House Intelligence chair, Devin Nunes, as his henchman to try to obstruct justice in this case, which only makes him look guiltier, especially in light of a pattern of framing, firing and threatening investigators, including Mueller himself.
Add to the litany of evidence against him Trump’s own admission that he fired Comey over the Russia investigation.
Meanwhile, Trump has insulted almost everyone in the world, except for neo-Nazis and Putin.
The only way Trump could look guiltier is if he invited Putin to come join him in the West Wing and sleep with him in the President’s Bedroom. God knows, Melania won’t.
Follow Lucia Brawley on Twitter and at luciabrawley.com.
