President Trump shot down reports that Russia was attempting to meddle in the upcoming U.S. election by boosting Sen. Bernie Sanders.
“It was sort of strange that they went to Bernie, and now I find out that, if I believe what I read, it was highly exaggerated,” Trump said Tuesday at a press conference in New Delhi, India.
Trump blamed the information on a leak from House Intelligence Chairman Rep. Adam Schiff, his chief nemesis during impeachment proceedings. “It’s disgraceful, and I think it was leaked from the Intelligence Committee, House,” Trump said.
A report published one day before the start of the Nevada caucuses claimed that U.S. officials had warned the Democratic presidential primary candidate that the Russian government was trying to assist his campaign. Sanders is surging in the race, drawing concern from party lawmakers who don’t share his far left-leaning politics.
“He’s got a head of steam,” Trump said. “They don’t want him, so they put out a thing that Russia’s backing him. This is what they do. I’ve gone through it for a long time. I get it.”
Trump said that he was not informed of the alleged Russian interference by U.S. intelligence officials. White House national security adviser Robert O’Brien could confirm that the information “was never discussed with us,” he added.
“Schiff leaked it, in my opinion, and he shouldn’t be leaking things like that.”
[Opinion: Is the intelligence community planning to meddle in the 2020 election?]
