Schumer questions Russian intelligence meeting

WASHINGTON—Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., demanded answers from the Trump administration Thursday about a reported meeting between a top Russian spy and CIA Director Mike Pompeo. Schumer penned a letter to Director of National Intelligence (DNI) Dan Coats asking for an explanation about why Sergey Naryshkin, the director of Russia’s foreign intelligence service, entered the United States despite travel sanctions. “[T]he decision to host a senior Russian intelligence official at this juncture, and the Intelligence Community’s involvement in this decision, requires additional transparency for the American people,” Schumer wrote. The letter comes one day after CNN reported on the Pompeo-Naryshkin meeting. Timothy Barrett, a DNI spokesman, would not confirm the meeting to CNN but noted, “Any interaction with foreign intelligence agencies would have been conducted in accordance with U.S. law.” Schumer asserts the meeting raises suspicions, since it reportedly occurred just before the Trump administration announced it would delay implementation of additional sanctions against Russia that Congress overwhelmingly supported. Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, did not immediately respond to a request for comment about Schumer’s letter.