Politics

Bill Taylor, a top U.S. diplomat in Ukraine, appeared on Capitol Hill for a closed-door deposition Tuesday as part of the Trump impeachment inquiry and amid great interest from lawmakers over his past text messages discussing whether President Trump was engaged in a “quid pro quo” with Ukraine.

Taylor, the acting ambassador to Ukraine, did not answer shouted questions as he entered a Capitol hearing room. Taylor delivered a long opening statement to House investigators, Fox News was told.

EXPANSIVE DURHAM PROBE COULD GIVE TRUMP AMMO AMID IMPEACHMENT FIGHT

According to sources, the State Department tried to keep Taylor from testifying. But the Intelligence Committee issued a subpoena, making Tuesday’s appearance a “deposition.” Taylor is complying with the subpoena and answering questions from both sides.

Text messages recently turned over to Congress showed Taylor and other U.S. officials battling internally last month over Trump’s efforts to encourage Ukraine to investigate Hunter Biden’s past business practices in the country amid discussions over U.S. military aid to Ukraine. Hunter Biden is the son of Joe Biden, the former vice president and Democratic presidential candidate.

“As I said on the phone, I think it’s crazy to withhold security assistance for help with a political campaign,” Taylor said in a September text exchange.

U.S. Ambassador to the EU Gordon Sondland, who has also testified on Capitol Hill, responded by saying that was not what was happening: “Bill, I believe you are incorrect about President Trump’s intentions. The President has been crystal clear: no quid pro quo’s of any kind. The President is trying to evaluate whether Ukraine is truly going to adopt the transparency and reforms that President Zelensky promised during his campaign.”

Both men then agreed to cease discussing the matter over text, noting that phone calls with the appropriate officials would be preferable.

Congressional Democrats on Tuesday said they wanted more information on the text messages.

“Well, I would want to know exactly what he was thinking when he, you know, wrote that text,” Rep. Pramila Jayapal, a Democrat from Washington State, told reporters, adding, “we need to understand everything that happened before he sent that text and everything that happened after.”

Republicans, meanwhile, have accused Democrats of restricting access to the transcripts from the interviews they’ve been conducting as part of the impeachment inquiry.

“Just when you thought the process couldn’t get any more unfair, we found out last night that Democrats will now not even allow Republicans to have a copy of the respective transcripts from each of the witnesses we’ve interviewed thus far,” said Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan, claiming that Republicans can’t make copies and can only read them while under supervision by Democratic staffers.

Taylor was tapped to run the U.S. Embassy in Ukraine after the administration abruptly ousted the ambassador. He was then drawn into a Trump administration effort to hold up U.S. military aid for Ukraine.

Taylor had been serving as executive vice president at the U.S. Institute of Peace, a nonpartisan think tank founded by Congress, when he was appointed to run the embassy in Kiev after Ambassador Marie Yovanovitch was removed before the end of her term following a campaign against her led by Trump’s personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani.

He was chosen for the post because he was among a handful of former officials with experience in Ukraine who would be perceived as neutral by local officials and wouldn’t raise objections at the White House, according to a colleague.

Taylor had served as U.S. ambassador to Ukraine from 2006 to 2009.

Trump had his now-famous phone conversation in July with President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, in which he pressed him to investigate claims about Democratic rival Joe Biden, as well as issues related to election interference in 2016. Trump at the time had quietly put a hold on nearly $400 million in military aid that Ukraine was counting on in its fight against Russian-backed separatists.

Fox News’ Chad Pergram and Sally Persons and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson clashed Tuesday with Rep. Nydia Velazquez, D-N.Y., as a hearing on the Trump administration’s housing plans turned to the subject of disaster relief funds for Puerto Rico.

The dispute centered on HUD missing a deadline to give Puerto Rico instructions on how to apply for $8.3 billion in aid to prevent damage from future natural disasters. A bill signed by President Trump in June gave HUD a 90-day deadline to provide those rules, Newsweek reported. Ten jurisdictions included in the bill got the directions they needed, with Puerto Rico being the only one left out.

Carson was grilled by the congresswoman on the apparent decision to withhold funding over concerns about the government’s management.

“Last week, your chief financial officer and your principal deputy assistant secretary for community planning and development admitted before Congress that HUD intentionally missed a legally required deadline that would have made congressionally appropriated funds available to Puerto Rico,” Velazquez told Carson. “Let me ask you, where specifically in federal law is HUD empowered to unilaterally withhold … funds that have been appropriated by Congress?”

CALIFORNIA LAUNCHES AMERICA’S FIRST STATEWIDE EARTHQUAKE EARLY WARNING SYSTEM

“Congress has specifically mandated that the Secretary of HUD make sure that funds that are allocated or provided for certain jurisdictions have the resources and the capacity to manage them,” Carson responded.

Velazquez then cut off Carson and told him he was not answering her question before asking it again. Carson attempted to speak but Velazquez interrupted him another time.

“Reclaiming my time,” she said, “since you are not going to answer my question.”

“Seemed like an answer to me,” Carson shot back. “Are you looking for an answer or a soundbite?”

Velazquez, after explaining that the HUD inspector general had not recommended that the funds be withheld, insinuated that the Trump administration withheld the money from Puerto Rico out of spite.

BEN CARSON CLEARED AS HUD INSPECTOR GENERAL FINDS NO EVIDENCE OF MISCONDUCT IN FURNITURE CONTROVERSY

“I wonder if this was politically motivated,” she said. “Did anyone at the White House, including the president or the chief of staff, ask you to withhold money that was supposed to go to Puerto Rico?”

Carson responded: “Interestingly, a lot of what we do is dictated by common sense. … If you have a jurisdiction in which there are three changes of government within a month and which has historically had difficulty with financial management, to put an unprecedented amount of money in there without the appropriate controls is irresponsible.”

Velazquez then accused Carson and the Trump administration more generally of having contempt toward the U.S. territory that was devastated by Hurricane Maria in 2017.

Trump has long clashed with Puerto Rican leaders and had called former governor Ricardo Rosselló a “terrible governor” before he resigned in August. Trump said in July that Puerto Rico has “grossly incompetent leadership.”

Velazquez said Tuesday that the disaster relief issue “speaks to this administration’s disregard for Puerto Rico,” asking HUD to send to Congress “every communication related to Puerto Rico.”

“And you know what sir, we’re going to find out what motivated for you to withhold this money for the people of Puerto Rico. If this was about corruption, as you claimed in the press, so deal with your own corruption when you have FEMA officials who were arrested in Puerto Rico.”

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Carson responded: “We have nothing to hide so I’d be glad for you to get that information.”

“One way or another we’re going to know the truth,” Velazquez said before finishing her questioning.

The exchange prompted ranking member Rep. Patrick McHenry, R-N.C., to admonish Velazquez for her treatment of Carson — before the congresswoman responded that alleged corruption in Puerto Rico is not a good enough reason for withholding funds when many other locations around the country received disaster relief funds without issue.

The exchange forced Chairwoman Maxine Waters, D-Calif., to use her gavel to get Velazquez and McHenry to allow the hearing to continue.

U.S. Attorney John Durham’s investigation into the intelligence and law enforcement communities’ handling of the Russia probe is quietly but steadily expanding under the shadow of the high-profile House impeachment inquiry against President Trump—and could represent something of a wild card in the president’s attempts to fight back.

Attorney General Bill Barr appointed Durham, the U.S. attorney from Connecticut, to ensure intelligence collection activities by the U.S. government related to the Trump 2016 presidential campaign were “lawful and appropriate.”

WHERE IS THE FISA REPORT? ANTICIPATION BUILDS AS DOJ WATCHDOG STILL HASN’T RELEASED REVIEW

His probe reportedly will soon focus on the roles of key Obama administration intelligence officials like John Brennan and James Clapper. And it converges with other simultaneous investigations, including Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz’s probe of alleged Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) abuses, which, coupled together, could give the president ammunition to attack his critics, even if the material does not directly relate to the Ukraine controversy fueling the impeachment push.

“If the rumors are true that IG Horowitz’s report and findings in Durham’s review will blast the conduct of the FBI’s Russia investigation, it will give Trump a lot of ammo to support his argument that he was unjustly targeted then and is being unjustly targeted now,” a House GOP source told Fox News on Tuesday. “It will justify Trump’s warnings about the Deep State acting to hobble his presidency.”

Trump claimed Tuesday that the impeachment push amounted to a “lynching” — which touched off a round of fiery condemnation from Democratic critics.

“The president should not compare a constitutionally mandated impeachment inquiry to such a dangerous and dark chapter in American history,” House Democratic Caucus Chairman Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., told reporters.

But as Trump and Democrats loudly clash over the probe, Durham has pressed forward quietly with an investigation that could ding the reputations of some of Trump’s biggest critics.

Durham was appointed to review the events leading up to the 2016 presidential election and through Trump’s January 20, 2017 inauguration. But Fox News has learned that he’s since expanded his investigation to cover a post-election timeline spanning the spring of 2017—when Robert Mueller was appointed as special counsel.

Durham is “gathering information from numerous sources, including a number of foreign countries,” according to Justice Department spokeswoman Kerri Kupec, who also acknowledged that Trump has helped to facilitate communications for Barr and Durham with foreign powers.

“At Attorney General Barr’s request, the president has contacted other countries to ask them to introduce the attorney general and Mr. Durham to appropriate officials,” Kupec said last month.

Barr and Durham have already traveled to Italy to speak with law enforcement officials, and have also had conversations with officials in the U.K. and Australia about the probe, according to multiple sources familiar with the meetings.

TRUMP CALLS IMPEACHMENT INQUIRY ‘LYNCHING,’ CLAIMS PROCESS PUTS FUTURE PRESIDENTS AT RISK

Durham also has reportedly expressed interest in interviewing several current and former intelligence officials. Former CIA Director John Brennan told NBC News that Durham plans to interview him and former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper.

A spokesman for Clapper did not immediately respond to Fox News’ request for comment.

Meanwhile, Horowitz is expected to release his long-awaited review of alleged FISA abuses by the Department of Justice and the FBI during the Russia investigation—there has been speculation that his report could drop any day.

Horowitz, for more than a year and a half, has been investigating alleged misconduct related to the FISA warrants delivered by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court. The Justice Department and FBI obtained warrants in 2016 to surveil Trump adviser Carter Page. It is unclear, at this point, if Page was the only Trump campaign official that the DOJ obtained a FISA warrant against.

Horowitz’s highly anticipated findings could spark new congressional investigations and deliver critical information to Durham’s probe.

Horowitz has been probing how the salacious anti-Trump dossier compiled by former British spy Christopher Steele was used to secure the original FISA warrant for Page in October 2016, as well as three renewals. Horowitz also has looked into why the FBI may have regarded Steele – funded by the Hillary Clinton campaign through law firm Perkins Coie – a credible source, and why the bureau used news reports to bolster Steele’s credibility before the FISA court.

“As soon as Horowitz is done with his review of the FISA warrant application, the counterintelligence investigation, the Trump campaign, we’ll have a hearing in public with Horowitz and we’ll call a bunch of witnesses,” Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said on Fox Business Network’s “Sunday Morning Futures.”

Graham has vowed to probe alleged FISA abuses at the start of the Russia investigation, saying earlier this year that his Senate committee would look for answers on how much money the Democrats paid research firm Fusion GPS to commission the dossier compiled by Steele, or if the contents of the dossier have been verified.

It is unclear if Graham, amid the House impeachment inquiry, has begun this investigation. But Graham has said that he could call on Justice Department official Bruce Ohr and former FBI Director James Comey to appear before his panel.

The president and his allies are already touting the progress being made by Durham, and are hoping Horowitz’s report will provide new fodder to counter impeachment talk.

“Democrats are afraid that the reports will validate what the president has been saying for years—his enemies in Congress are so desperate to undo the results of the 2016 election that they will manufacture conspiracies and sell them to the American people,” a senior Republican aide told Fox News on Tuesday.

Trump has the authority to declassify and release as much of the report as he wants, and has been hyping its forthcoming release.

“I predict you will see things that you don’t even believe, the level of corruption—whether it’s [James] Comey; whether it’s [Peter] Strzok and his lover, [Lisa] Page; whether it’s so many other people—[Andrew] McCabe; whether it’s President Obama himself,” Trump told reporters last week.

“Let’s see whether or not it’s President Obama. Let’s see whether or not they put that in,” he added.

The president has sought to shift focus on the current impeachment inquiry in the House to potential misconduct that could be found in these ongoing investigations.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., announced the formal process last month, following revelations surrounding the president’s summer phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in which he pressed for politically charged investigations.

As detailed in a whistleblower complaint and transcript of the call, Trump pushed the Ukrainian president to launch an investigation into former Vice President Joe Biden and his son, Hunter Biden, over their dealings in Ukraine—specifically, why the elder Biden pressured the former Ukrainian president to fire a top prosecutor who was investigating a natural gas firm where Hunter sat on the board.

The president’s request also came after millions in U.S. military aid to Ukraine had been frozen, something critics have cited as evidence of a quid pro quo arrangement. The White House and the president’s allies have denied a quid pro quo — though Acting White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney seemed to say otherwise, before walking it back — and the Bidens have maintained that they did “nothing wrong.”

Fox News’ Jake Gibson, Bret Baier, and Gregg Re contributed to this report. 

President Trump described House Democrats’ impeachment inquiry as a “lynching” on Tuesday, claiming the way it’s being conducted opens the door for future presidents to be impeached “without due process or fairness or any legal rights.”

“So some day, if a Democrat becomes President and the Republicans win the House, even by a tiny margin, they can impeach the President, without due process or fairness or any legal rights,” Trump tweeted. “All Republicans must remember what they are witnessing here—a lynching. But we will WIN!”

The language recalled the famous charge by now-Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, who is black, that his 1991 confirmation process was akin to a “high-tech lynching,” as he denied allegations at the time of sexual harassment against Anita Hill.

But Trump was swiftly condemned by Democrats for using such racially charged language on Tuesday.

“You think this impeachment is a LYNCHING?” tweeted Rep. Bobby Rush, D-Ill. “What the hell is wrong with you? Do you know how many people who look like me have been lynched, since the inception of this country, by people who look like you. Delete this tweet.”

“It’s beyond shameful to use the word ‘lynching’ to describe being held accountable for your actions,” Julian Castro, a Democratic presidential candidate, tweeted.

House Democratic Caucus Chairman Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., slammed Trump’s comments when asked about them during a press conference on Tuesday morning.

“Thousands of African Americans were slaughtered during the lynching epidemic in this country for no reason other than the color of their skin,” he said. “The president should not compare a constitutionally mandated impeachment inquiry to such a dangerous and dark chapter in American history.”

The president’s tweet comes amid the escalating impeachment inquiry in the House. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., announced the formal process last month, following revelations surrounding the president’s summer phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in which he pressed for politically charged investigations.

HOUSE VOTES TO SET ASIDE RESOLUTION CENSURING SCHIFF

As detailed in a whistleblower complaint and transcript of the call, Trump pushed the Ukrainian president to launch an investigation into former Vice President Joe Biden and his son, Hunter Biden, over their dealings in Ukraine—specifically, why the elder Biden pressured the former Ukrainian president to fire a top prosecutor who was investigating a natural gas firm where Hunter sat on the board.

The president’s request also came after millions in U.S. military aid to Ukraine had been frozen, something critics have cited as evidence of a quid pro quo arrangement. The White House and the president’s allies have denied a quid pro quo — though Acting White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney seemed to say otherwise, before walking it back — and the Bidens have maintained that they did “nothing wrong.”

Meanwhile, House Republicans have blasted House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff for the way he has handled the inquiry thus far, claiming last week that he and other Democratic committee chairs are withholding critical impeachment-related documents and records from them.

On Monday night, Republicans introduced a resolution to censure Schiff, who is from California, over his handling of the impeachment inquiry, but the Democratic-led House voted to set aside the measure.

The vote was 218-185. All Democrats voted to table the censure resolution, with all Republicans voting to take action–a move Trump praised Tuesday morning.

After the vote, House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy condemned Schiff’s “grave missteps” and “reckless behavior.”

TRUMP UNLOADS OVER SYRIA, IMPEACHMENT, DORAL, SAYS HE ‘SHOULD BE ALLOWED TO RUN THE COUNTRY’

“Each member of Congress must uphold a high standard of honesty and integrity. When it comes to matters of our national security, that responsibility is even greater,” McCarthy, R-Calif., said. “Chairman Schiff has fallen short of his duty. From claiming he had evidence of Russian collusion with the Trump campaign to covering up his committee’s relationship with the whistleblower, he has demonstrated a pattern of lying to the American people on matters of intelligence.”

Schiff, though, tweeted Monday night: “It will be said of Republicans, when they found they lacked the courage to confront the most dangerous and unethical president in American history, they consoled themselves by attacking those who did.”

Schiff has said that he “should have been more clear” regarding his committee’s prior contact with the whistleblower, which was not initially revealed.

Schiff previously said that “we have not spoken directly to the whistleblower,” referring to his intelligence committee — although his office later narrowed the claim, saying Schiff himself “does not know the identity of the whistleblower, and has not met with or spoken with the whistleblower or their counsel” for any reason.

Fox News’ Gregg Re and Tyler Olson contributed to this report. 

Former President Jimmy Carter was hospitalized after again falling at his home in Georgia, a spokesperson said Tuesday.

“Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter had a fall yesterday evening at his home in Plains, Georgia,” Deanna Congileo, director of communications for The Carter Center, said in a statement. “He is in good spirits and is looking forward to recovering at home.”

JIMMY CARTER BUILDS HABITAT FOR HUMANITY HOME, DESPITE BLACK EYE, STITCHES FROM FALL

The statement said he’s been admitted to Phoebe Sumter Medical Center “for observation and treatment of a minor pelvic fracture.”

Carter, 95, also fell at his home in Plains earlier this month. He received 14 stitches above his brow and sustained a black eye. The injury did not keep the 39th president from helping the nonprofit organization, Habitat for Humanity, to build a home in Tennessee.

“I had a No. 1 priority and that was to come to Nashville and build houses,” Carter told a crowd earlier this month while addressing his brief hospital visit. Carter, the following day, participated in his 36th building project with Habitat for Humanity.

Carter, whose birthday was Oct. 1, appeared at the building site with his left eye swollen and bruised. He wore a white bandage above his eye. His wife, former first lady Rosalynn Carter, 92, joined him.

Before construction began, Carter led a morning devotion for a group of several hundred volunteers.

Carter said God gives all life and freedom. “With our freedom, every one of us can make a basic decision. … ‘What kind of person do I, myself, choose to be?'”

He said every person “can be a complete success in the eyes of God.”

FORMER PRESIDENT JIMMY CARTER RELEASED FROM HOSPITAL FOLLOWING HIP SURGERY

Carter also suffered a fall at his home earlier this year, which resulted in a broken hip. The 39th president was given successful hip replacement surgery in Mayat Phoebe Sumter Medical Center in Americus, Ga. Carter fell while leaving to go turkey hunting.

This year, Carter became the oldest living U.S. president, following the death of former President George H.W. Bush in November 2018.

Carter served as president from 1977 to 1981 and has lived the longest after leaving office—with January 20 of this year marking 38 years since he was succeeded by Ronald Reagan.

In August 2015, Carter announced that doctors had found melanoma in his brain and liver. He underwent radiation treatment and later announced, in December 2015, that he was cancer-free.

Fox News’ David Lewkowict, Stephen Sorace and The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

Hunter Biden on Monday agreed to submit to a DNA test in response to a paternity claim filed by a woman in Arkansas who said the embattled son of the 2020 Democratic hopeful Joe Biden is the father of her 14-month-old child, according to court documents.

HUNTER BIDEN’S QUESTIONABLE PAST AND BUSINESS DEALINGS COULD UNDO DAD’S BID FOR WHITE HOUSE

Lunden Alexis Roberts, 28, filed a claim on May 28 in Independence County, Ark., seeking to establish the paternity of her child. The child, identified in court documents as “Baby Doe,” was born in August 2018, the Courthouse News Service reported. The sex of the child was not disclosed.

Roberts, who graduated from Arkansas State University in 2014, said she met Biden in Washington while she was a graduate student at George Washington University, the Courthouse News Service reported.

Biden claimed he didn’t respond sooner to a request for a paternity test due to the fact that he was not properly served with a summons and a copy of the lawsuit at his West Hollywood apartment.

Biden lives in California with his wife of five months, Melissa Cohen Biden, a filmmaker from South Africa, who he told ABC News he met, married and got matching “shalom” tattoos in less than a week after first meeting each other.

CLICK HERE FOR THE ALL-NEW FOXBUSINESS.COM

The 49-year-old’s controversial decision to accept a high-paying position at a gas company in Ukraine with little to no experience has become the backdrop of a whistleblower complaint against President Trump and is reshaping the 2020 presidential race amid a Democrat-led impeachment inquiry in the House. Trump has repeatedly accused Hunter Biden of ethical lapses and profiting off his father’s time as vice president.

Fox News’ Barnini Chakraborty contributed to this report.

Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich on Monday seemed to downplay a recent report that Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, would take a stand against President Trump should the impeachment inquiry advance to the second chamber of Congress for a vote.

Gingrich, who competed against Romney in 2012 for the Republican Party’s presidential nomination, said on Fox News’ The Ingraham Angle that Romney doesn’t have much influence in the Senate given he represents “the old order,” or pre-Trump era, of the GOP.

NEWT GINGRICH RESPONDS TO HILLARY CLINTON SLAMMING HIS ‘PARTISAN’ ’90S IMPEACHMENT PUSH

“The truth is I don’t pay attention to Mitt Romney. I don’t think Mitt Romney matters in the long run of American political history,” Gingrich told Fox News Host Laura Ingraham. “He certainly does not matter in a Donald Trump Republican Party. I think he is a fossilized element of a party that is disappearing.”

Gingrich made the remarks in reaction to a piece published in The Atlantic Sunday titled “The Liberation of Mitt Romney.” The story detailed how the seasoned Utah senator now considers himself free of party constraints and instead, if necessary to secure his legacy, would consider a vote in favor of impeaching Trump.

Gingrich said that remark was a “fairly ignorant comment about Turkey. Turkey is a fairly large country with a fairly large military. Our major airbase in the region is in Turkey. Anybody who’s suggesting that you can just shrug off Turkey doesn’t understand anything about the power structure of the Middle East.”

Gingrich wrapped his appearance by comparing football to recent “fumbles” made by White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney—first in a press briefing and then in an interview with Fox News’ Chris Wallace—about whether Trump’s notorious call with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky proved quid pro quo.

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“Last week for the first time in the 100 year history of the Packers, Aaron Rogers had a perfect game. There’s a lot to learn from not throwing interceptions and not fumbling,” Gingrich said. “And, I think the White House could slow down a little bit and give us a couple weeks of error free ball.”

CONCORD, N.H. — Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey says he might follow in Sen. Mitt Romney’s footsteps by setting up a fake Twitter account.

The presidential candidate, speaking to reporters in New Hampshire the morning after the Republican senator from Utah apparently admitted that he managed a secret Twitter account, jokingly said, “I now know I can get some fake Twitter accounts, which I’m going to start running I think… really want one now. I want a synonym.”

Booker, a Democrat, seemed to be impressed with the name “Pierre Delecto,” Romney’s fake Twitter handle.

ROMNEY APPEARS TO CONFIRM EXISTENCE OF SHADOW TWITTER ACCOUNT

The senator jokingly said, “Pierre Delecto. All right. I love that name. I’ve got to find a good one.”

Two quick names the Democrat from New Jersey suggested as his handle – “’Kal-El_Jersey. Maybe ‘BBB,’ ‘B Cubed,’ big, bald and bold. I’m just not sure. I hope I can ask America to help me come up with my Twitter account names.”

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Turning serious, Booker praised Romney for his criticism of President Trump and once again took aim at the commander in chief.

“I know Mitt Romney to be a statesman in the United States of America and somebody who’s a very honorable person. I’m glad to be serving with him in the Senate and I’m glad he that he’s speaking up,” Booker noted. “When a president of the United States is engaging in moral vandalism, I don’t care if he’s in your party or not in your party, we should all be speaking out to that.”

Presidential candidate Tulsi Gabbard on Monday suggested that a “face-to-face” with Hillary Clinton might be an appropriate next step, as lawmakers from across the political spectrum, including President Trump and Sen. Bernie Sanders, condemned Clinton’s unfounded suggestion that the congresswoman is a secret Russian asset.

Speaking to reporters at an Iowa coffee shop, Gabbard, D-Hawaii, lamented that Clinton had pulled out of a planned appearance at Fortune’s Most Powerful Women Summit, where Gabbard is set to speak. Clinton was said to have abandoned the summit to avoid appearing with former Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen.

“Well, she had something to say about me, and I would have been very happy to have that conversation directly face-to-face with her,” Gabbard said.

Earlier Monday, Sanders, I-Vt., joined fellow presidential candidates Andrew Yang, Marianne Williamson and Beto O’Rourke in defending Gabbard.

GABBARD REVEALS WHY SHE THINKS CLINTON IS ‘SMEARING’ HER

“Tulsi Gabbard has put her life on the line to defend this country,” Sanders tweeted, referring to Gabbard’s overseas deployments. “People can disagree on issues, but it is outrageous for anyone to suggest that Tulsi is a foreign asset.”

Asked for her reaction to Sanders’ comment, Gabbard said only, “Thank you for speaking the truth.”

Gabbard said she had not spoken with Sanders since last week’s presidential primary debate.

TRUMP DEFENDS GABBARD, SUGGESTS CLINTON IS ‘SICK’

In addition to suggesting Gabbard was a “Russian asset” in a recent interview, Clinton asserted, also without evidence, that Russians were “grooming her to be the third-party candidate” and spoiler in the 2020 race. Clinton hinted that Gabbard was the “favorite of the Russians.”

But, Gabbard reiterated to reporters Monday that she would commit to voting for the Democrats’ eventual nominee, and would not run as a third-party candidate.

“I’ve already said that many times,” Gabbard said when asked if she’d stay with the Democrats instead of mounting a third-party bid.

Gabbard acknowledged that she had met with Trump when he was president-elect in order to discuss foreign policy, but insisted the discussions were not about any potential role in his administration. Gabbard also said she hadn’t since talked to Trump about foreign policy.

“I was never offered a job,” Gabbard said. That was not what is about. I was asked if I wanted to go and speak to the then-president-elect about foreign policy., and that’s what I did.”

Also Monday, Trump sounded a note of empathy for Gabbard, saying he had some familiarity with being accused of Russian collaboration without any evidence.

‘I said, wait a minute, it took me two-and-a-half years, I wish [Clinton] would have said that earlier because people… have realized she is crazy. She’s crazy,” the president told Fox News’ Sean Hannity.

“She’s accusing everyone of being a Russian agent,” Trump told reporters, referring to Clinton. “She’s not a Russian agent. These people are sick. There’s something wrong with them.”

Trump added that he thought Clinton’s substance-free accusations against Gabbard ultimately would help his own political chances in 2020.

Gabbard has asserted that Clinton was targeting her because Gabbard ended her tenure as vice chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee (DNC) in 2016 by quitting and throwing her support behind Sanders. At the time, Gabbard accused party leaders of stifling her freedom of speech and unfairly tipping the scales in favor of Clinton’s presidential campaign.

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“People warned me in 2016 that my endorsement of Bernie Sanders would be the end of my ‘political career’ — they said Clinton would never forget,” Gabbard said a video posted on Twitter on Sunday, “that she and her rich and powerful friends — her allies in politics and the media — will make sure you’re destroyed.”

After a Clinton spokesperson all but confirmed Clinton was referring specifically to Gabbard as a “Russian asset,” Gabbard fired back that Clinton was “queen of warmongers, embodiment of corruption, and personification of the rot that has sickened the Democratic Party!”

Fox News’ Kelly Phares in Grinnell, Iowa, contributed to this report.

Afghanistan’s President Ashraf Ghani has met with U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and a group of American lawmakers in an unannounced visit to the country.

The Afghan government’s statement says that Ghani thanked Sunday the delegation for the U.S.’s continued financial and political support for Afghanistan over the past 18 years.

The delegation met with Ghani and Chief Executive Abdallah Abdallah.

TRUMP SAYS PELOSI SHOULD INVESTIGATE OBAMA’S SYRIA RED LINE

Pelosi on her Twitter account said her visit to Afghanistan focused on security, governance and economic development.

The U.S. has approximately 14,000 troops in Afghanistan as part of training and advising mission, and to conduct counterterrorism operations against insurgents.

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The delegation had visited key U.S. ally Jordan the day before.

President Donald Trump’s policies in both the Mideast and Afghanistan have recently drawn bipartisan criticism in Washington.