FBI Director James Comey's admission Monday before the House Intelligence Committee the Russian government wanted Donald Trump to win the 2016 presidential race, did not surprise Sam Nunberg, a former political adviser to President Donald Trump.
"Trump was continually saying that he thought he could work with Russia," Nunberg, an attorney, told host Steve Malzberg on Newsmax TV's "America Talks Live."
"I know from my experience with him that he thinks, look, I have to go against China, I'm going to have a lot of problems with China, I'm going to have problems in the Middle East, and perhaps Russia could be a help with those.
"I happen to think he's wrong, I happen to think Putin is a thug and no friend of the United States, but it is what it is. Hillary Clinton has been very antagonistic towards Putin, maybe rightfully so, and Trump certainly saw an opportunity to have Putin help him during the election."
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Nunberg added "Trump is going to love to be the guy that played Putin . . . He's going to want to be the guy saying, 'I don't know if Putin was behind all these hacking,' and then once he becomes president he takes a hard approach with Putin, if he doesn't feel that Putin is going to be helpful to him."
But, the former adviser adds, as far as he knows, there were no formal contacts between Trump operatives and the Russian government – a possibility Comey said is now being probed by his agency.
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