Several Democratic leaders in Congress sent a letter to President Donald Trump calling on him to put pressure on Russian President Vladimir Putin to extradite the Russians who were indicted in special counsel Robert Mueller’s probe.
Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer, House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi, Sen. Dianne Feinstein and Rep. Jerrold Nadler signed the letter to Trump. Feinstein and Nadler are the top Democrats on each chamber’s Judiciary Committee.
“We write to urge your administration to devote all resources available to ensure that the Russian nationals indicted for allegedly interfering with the 2016 elections are brought to justice and stand trial in the United States,” they wrote in the letter.
The White House has not immediately responded to CNN’s request for comment.
Mueller indicted 13 Russian nationals and three Russian entities for allegedly meddling in the 2016 presidential election, charging them with conspiracy to defraud the United States, the Department of Justice announced in February.
The letter continued: “Ensuring these Russian nationals stand trial in the United States is imperative for deterring Russia from future attacks on our democracy and would be a signal to those who seek to meddle with our election that such actions are not without consequences.”
At the time of the indictment, Trump tweeted, “Russia started their anti-US campaign in 2014, long before I announced that I would run for President. The results of the election were not impacted. The Trump campaign did nothing wrong – no collusion!”
