Trump tweets call for investigation into Democrats' Russian 'ties'

U.S. President Donald Trump, his administration under siege for contacts with Russian officials, is calling for "an immediate investigation" into Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer's own "ties" to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Trump tweeted a photo Friday of Schumer at an event with Putin in New York in 2003. The photo shows the two holding doughnuts.

The president called for a probe into Schumer's "ties to Russia and Putin" and called the New York senator "A total hypocrite!"

Schumer responded on Twitter a short time later, writing that he would "happily talk" under oath about his meeting with Putin, which took place "in full view of press and public."

He challenged Trump to do the same.

On the same trip to the United States in 2003, Putin travelled to Camp David, Md., where he met with former Republican president George W. Bush and the two held a joint news conference.

Trump's tweet comes a day after Attorney General Jeff Sessions came under scrutiny for two meetings with a Russian ambassador.

Democrats have accused Sessions of lying under oath for failing to acknowledge the meetings when he was asked at a Senate judiciary committee confirmation hearing and in response to written questions.

Schumer later tweeted, "And for the record, they were Krispy Kreme donuts."

Later Friday, Trump tweeted a call for a second investigation into Democrat Nancy Pelosi's meeting with the Russian ambassador accompanied by a link to an article by Politico featuring a photo of Pelosi and the ambassador from 2010.

Pelosi had denied meeting with the ambassador.