President Donald Trump known as for Sen. Richard Blumenthal to be investigated in a Truth Social publish late Tuesday night time, hours after the Democratic senator sparred with Attorney General Pam Bondi throughout a contentious Senate hearing.
Referencing decade-old allegations that Blumenthal “lied” about his military service in Vietnam, Trump mentioned within the post, “This guy shouldn’t be in the U.S. Senate. It should be investigated, and Justice should be sought.”
Shortly after, Blumenthal responded to Trump’s claims, telling NCS’s Kaitlan Collins on “The Source” that the allegations are “completely deceptive and distorted.”
“This allegation of 15 years ago has been really rejected by the voters of Connecticut three times, overwhelmingly reelecting me,” Blumenthal mentioned.
The senator acknowledged that he misspoke about his service on “a couple of occasions.”
“I served in the reserves and I referred to my service ‘in Vietnam’ on a handful, just a couple of occasions, rather than ‘during Vietnam,’” Blumenthal informed Collins.
Blumenthal admitted in a 2010 New York Time story to misrepresenting his military service after saying that it had been “in” Vietnam. Blumenthal served within the Marine Reserves in Washington, and he was not deployed to Vietnam.
Sen. Richard Blumenthal reacts to President Donald Trump’s name for him to be investigated.
Trump has repeatedly attacked Blumenthal over his military file. In 2017, the pair exchange jabs on-line after the president criticized him.
Trump didn’t serve within the military and obtained a number of deferments through the Vietnam War. During his first time period, he additionally criticized then-Sen. John McCain, who was a prisoner of warfare in Vietnam and who died in 2018.
Since taking workplace, Trump has sought retribution in opposition to his political opponents, launching a number of investigations, together with into former FBI Director James Comey, who was indicted final month.
Earlier Tuesday, when Blumenthal questioned Bondi over her connections to a legislation agency concerned in a merger scrutinized by the Justice Department, Bondi — like Trump — accused him of mendacity about his military service.
“Senator Blumenthal, I cannot believe that you would accuse me of impropriety when you lied about your military service,” Bondi mentioned. “How dare you? I’m a career prosecutor. Don’t you ever challenge my integrity.”