Dem lawmaker accuses Trump of 'trying to swindle' Ukraine's leader

A Democratic congressman accused president Donald Trump of selling out to Russia and its president Vladimir Putin.

Trump will meet Friday with Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelensky to discuss a proposed peace deal that would establish a jointly managed “Reconstruction Investment Fund" involving the war-torn nation's natural resources, but Rep. Seth Moulton (D-MA) told "CNN News Central" the agreement sounds like it could have been drawn up by the Kremlin.

"I think Trump is setting up to sell out to Putin," Moulton said. "That's what he's done. It's what he did in his first term, it's what he's doing now. It's truly extraordinary that a commander in chief of the United States is siding with a murderous dictator who started this war, but that's exactly what Trump is doing, and on top of that, let's not forget that back in his first term, he was trying to to to swindle Zelensky. Remember when he was trying to get a quid pro quo to go after Biden? That's what led to the first impeachment inquiry. Well, now he's trying to swindle Zelensky again."

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Trump was impeached in December 2019 for trying to withhold congressionally approved foreign aid to Ukraine as leverage to get him to announce a corruption investigation against Joe Biden and his son Hunter, but the GOP Senate majority eventually acquitted him.

"Ukraine is attacked by Russia," Moulton said. "Russia should be footing the bill for Ukraine's rebuilding, not Ukraine. I mean, imagine if someone came and burned down your house and they caught that person and said, 'Oh, no, you're not going to pay for it, you're going to pay for rebuilding your house because some other guy burned it down. That's what Trump is doing when he's extracting this mineral deal out of Ukraine. It's immoral, it's unpatriotic, it's un-American, and it only encourages Putin to go further. So without security guarantees – get ready, Eastern Europe, you're going to be next."

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