Pelosi rips Trump tweets: ‘Deflector-in-Chief is at it again’

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) slammed an early-morning tweetstorm by President Trump on Saturday, accusing the president of trying to deflect attention away from a series of stories about his team’s links to Russia.

“The Deflector-in-Chief is at it again. An investigation by an independent commission is the only answer,” Pelosi wrote on Twitter.

The Deflector-in-Chief is at it again. An investigation by an independent commission is the only answer.

— Nancy Pelosi (@NancyPelosi) March 4, 2017

The tweet was an apparent response to Trump’s earlier rant, in which he accused former President Obama of “wire tapping” his phones during his 2016 presidential bid, comparing it “McCarthyism” and President Richard Nixon’s Watergate scandal.

“How low has President Obama gone to tapp my phones during the very sacred election process. This is Nixon/Watergate. Bad (or sick) guy!” Trump wrote.

Terrible! Just found out that Obama had my “wires tapped” in Trump Tower just before the victory. Nothing found. This is McCarthyism!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 4, 2017

How low has President Obama gone to tapp my phones during the very sacred election process. This is Nixon/Watergate. Bad (or sick) guy!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 4, 2017

Trump did not cite or provide any proof that Obama ordered the then-presidential candidate’s conversations to be monitored. He may have been referencing a Breitbart News story published Friday alleging that the Obama administration used “police state” tactics to keep tabs on Trump’s campaign.

Trump also attacked Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) on Friday, saying that the two Democrats should be investigated after photos emerged of them meeting with Russian officials — Schumer in 2003 and Pelosi in 2010.

Both lawmakers pushed back against Trump’s criticisms. Schumer argued that his meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin was held in the public eye and with the presence of reporters. Pelosi met with then-Russian President Dmitry Medvedev in 2010, and pointed out that he had never met one-on-one with Russian officials.

Trump’s attacks came as his administration faces renewed scrutiny over the president and his aides’ ties to the Kremlin. Attorney General Jeff Sessions recused himself from federal investigations into Russian election meddling and the Trump campaign after it was revealed that he met with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak twice during the president’s campaign, then denied doing so during his confirmation hearings.

Schumer and Pelosi pointed out that their concern isn’t that Sessions met with Kislyak, but that he said he had no contact with Russians while under oath during his confirmation hearings.

That revelation preceded several reports that other current and former Trump associates had similar meetings with Kislyak before Trump took office.

The president’s first national security adviser Michael Flynn resigned in February amid revelations that he discussed sanctions with Kislyak in December and misled Vice President Mike Pence and several others about the nature of those conversations.