Reid punches back at Trump, urges CIA give him fake briefings

PHILADELPHIA — U.S. Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid told reporters Thursday that the CIA should give fake briefings to Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump.

Presidential nominees from major parties traditionally receive intelligence briefings before elections. Reid, D-Nev., said he doesn’t trust Trump.

“I would hope they would give him fake intelligence briefings,” Reid said at a news briefing in Philadelphia, a day after he spoke at the Democratic National Convention. “He can have intelligence briefings, but I hope they are fake.”

Earlier this week, Trump suggested Russia should try to find the deleted emails of Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton’s private server from her time as secretary of state. Clinton’s use of a private server and email account has become a campaign issue. An FBI investigation ended with no indictment, and Clinton has said she made a mistake.

“Russia, if you’re listening, I hope you’re able to find the 30,000 emails that are missing,” Trump had said.

Trump later said he was being sarcastic when he prodded Russia to unearth Clinton’s missing emails.

Trump’s statement brought criticism from many, including Reid.

Reid mentioned Trump’s comment about Russia when he was asked about the potential fallout from another release of hacked emails involving the Democratic National Committee. WikiLeaks posted almost 20,000 hacked emails exchanged among national Democratic officials last week, and more are expected.

“Maybe what we should do is see if we can get some of the connections Trump has with (Russian President Vladimir) Putin and see what’s coming next,” Reid said.

Reid said congressional Republicans “paved the way” for Trump with their stand on issues, including blocking the nomination of judges and opposing proposals to increase the minimum wage and require equal pay for equal work.

Reid will leave office when his term ends after the November election. Democratic candidate Catherine Cortez Masto, a former Nevada attorney general, and U.S. Rep. Joe Heck, R-Nev., are running for the seat.

The Associated Press contributed to this report. Contact Ben Botkin at bbotkin@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2904. Find @BenBotkin on Twitter.