President Donald Trump late Thursday reacted to a report that Democratic Sen. Mark Warner had several contacts with a lobbyist for a Russian oligarch, tweeting "all tied into crooked Hillary."
Trump's tweet came roughly 90 minutes before the federal government was shut down.
Fox News reported Thursday that Warner had several contacts with Adam Waldman, a one-time lobbyist for Russian oligarch Oleg V. Deripaska, for help setting up a meeting with former British spy Christopher Steele.
Warner, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, was hoping to engage Steele to appear before the committee to testify to the unverified dossier he authored regarding Trump.
And it was important to Warner that his dealings with Waldman remain secret.
Warner texted that he would "rather not have a paper trail" of his messages, Fox News reported.
Waldman runs the Endeavor Group in Washington, D.C., and has close ties to the Clintons.
Warner's office confirmed to Fox News that the texts were authentic, and Senate Intel panel chairman Sen. Richard Burr said he was aware of the contacts.
"From the beginning of our investigation we have taken each step in a bipartisan way, and we intend to continue to do so," Warner and Burr said in a joint statement to Fox News. "Leaks of incomplete information out of context by anyone, inside or outside our committee, are unacceptable."
Sen. Marco Rubio also tweeted that Warner had been upfront with the committee.
Warner and Steele did connect on the phone, but Steele chose to not testify before the committee.
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