A Democratic senator believes Russian President Vladimir Putin may have damaging information on President Trump.
“I think it’s likely,” Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., said Monday.
Merkley’s comments aired on BuzzFeed News’ “AM to DM” show while Trump met with Putin in Helsinki.
[Nancy Pelosi: Trump was ‘afraid’ to mention Russian indictments to Putin]
The senator said it’s possible Russia compiled damaging information on Trump, possibly setting him up, during his 2013 visit to Moscow. Merkley referenced the infamous Trump dossier, which was published by the news outlet after the election and contained salacious details about Trump’s trip.
“It’s a standard strategy of Russia, when people visit there, who are important, to try to get compromising information on them, to set them up with hookers, to tape everything that goes on in their room. It’s likely they have that,” he said.
When asked if believes allegations that the Russian government taped Trump watching prostitutes urinate on his hotel room bed, which is detailed in the dossier, Merkley guessed “something close to that” exists.
Trump has denied the allegations in the dossier, and there has so far been no confirmation that such a tape exists.
.@BuzzFeedBen: “Do you think Vladimir Putin has anything on him?”@SenJeffMerkley: “I think it’s likely.”
…
Smith: “Your view is that the pee tape is real?”
Merkley: “Something close to that. Something close to that.”
From @AM2DM: pic.twitter.com/KX0LjRy04s
— Tom Namako (@TomNamako) July 16, 2018
