House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi said Monday that President Trump looked “afraid” in his high-profile meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin and questioned why the Republican didn’t directly broach the subject of Russia’s meddling in the 2016 election.
Mrs. Pelosi, California Democrat, and Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer of New York called on Mr. Trump to cancel his meeting with Mr. Putin in Helsinki after the Justice Department last week indicted 12 Russian intelligence officers over hacking into the Democratic National Committee and Hillary Clinton’s campaign.
“The president in my view was afraid to mention the subject at hand — 12 indictments against people connected with the intelligence community in Russia trying to disrupt our elections,” Mrs. Pelosi said during an appearance at the Center for American Progress.
“It begs the question, what does Vladimir Putin, what do the Russians have on DT — personally, politically and financially that he should behave in such a manner?” she said.
Mrs. Pelosi said she generally supports leaders meeting to get a measure of each other and gauge where they can work together.
“But I just don’t think it is is legitimate if you are not going to face reality,” she said. “The reality is … those associated with the Russian government was a party to the disruption of our government and our democracy.”
• Seth McLaughlin can be reached at smclaughlin@washingtontimes.com.
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