Nancy Pelosi Asks “What Does Putin Have On The President” After Roger Stone Indictment

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi this week questioned what information Russian President Vladimir Putin has on President Donald Trump following Roger Stone‘s criminal indictment last week.

On Friday, FBI agents stormed 66-year-old former Trump adviser Stone’s house in Florida and arrested him on charges of lying to Congress and obstructing justice in Special Counsel Robert Mueller‘s investigation on Russian meddling during the 2016 election. Stone’s indictment raises questions about whether Trump ordered Stone to obtain information on the hacked emails of Hillary Clinton and other prominent Democrats, a scandal WikiLeaks was also involved in.

Over the weekend, Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), the House Intelligence Committee Chairman, asked relevant questions about Trump and his associates’ involvement in the Russia scandal in an interview with ABC News’s This Week. 

“If there were innocent explanations for all of this, why all the lies? Why all the repeated efforts to get Russian help?” Schiff asked on the program.

He added, “And of course, you have this symmetry of interests here, where Donald Trump wants help from the Russians with his campaign, he wants help from the Russians to build this lucrative Moscow Tower, and the Russians want help from Donald Trump – they want sanctions relief – and all of this is going on at the same time.”

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On Monday, a statement from Pelosi released Friday evening responded to Stone’s indictment and questioned what compromising or damaging information Putin may have on Trump “politically, personally or financially.”

Here is Pelosi’s full statement on the issue:

“The indictment of Roger Stone makes clear that there was a deliberate, coordinated attempt by top Trump campaign officials to influence the 2016 election and subvert the will of the American people. It is staggering that the President has chosen to surround himself with people who violated the integrity of our democracy and lied to the FBI and Congress about it.

“In the face of 37 indictments, the President’s continued actions to undermine the Special Counsel investigation raise the questions: what does Putin have on the President, politically, personally or financially? Why has the Trump Administration continued to discuss pulling the U.S. out of NATO, which would be a massive victory for Putin?

“Lying to Congress and witness tampering constitute grave crimes. All who commit these illegal acts should be held accountable to the fullest extent of the law. We cannot allow any effort to intimidate witnesses or prevent them from appearing before Congress.

“The Special Counsel investigation is working, and the House will continue to exercise our constitutional oversight responsibility and ensure that the Special Counsel investigation can continue free from interference from the White House.”

Trump and Putin were recently revealed to have had multiple secret meetings and that the former attempted several times to hide details of these encounters from reporters.

On Wednesday, Full Frontal host Samantha Bee blasted Stone and commented on his long history of advising Trump and pushing him to make a presidential bid.

Article by Pablo Mena

Writer for uPolitics.com. NY Giants and Rangers fan. Film and TV enthusiast (especially Harry Potter and The Office) and lover of foreign languages and cultures.

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