Pelosi: Why would Trump ‘put Putin on a pedestal’?

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) on Friday knocked President Trump for elevating Russian President Vladimir Putin as the intelligence community continues to investigate Russian attempts to interfere in the 2016 presidential election.

“I just wonder what the Russians have politically, personally or financially on President Trump, because this is about a national security issue,” Pelosi said on NBC’s “Today.”

“Why would the President of the United States put Putin on a pedestal and diminish the greatness of America? There’s something wrong with this picture.”

{mosads}Democrats have criticized Trump for his closeness with Russia before and after the election. Pelosi’s comments come on the backdrop of the FBI recently confirming it is looking into Russia’s interference in the U.S. election and any possible ties between Trump aides and Russia.

In a Friday interview, Pelosi questioned why Trump came into office and “flirted” with possibly lifting sanctions on Russia. The California Democrat joined calls for a special independent commission to look into Russia’s election meddling, which is also being investigated by the House and Senate Intelligence committees.

“Let’s have the outside independent commission investigate all of this,” Pelosi said.