Trump campaign knocks Clinton on Russian ties

One day after an investigation into his campaign manager’s involvement in Russian and Ukrainian politics caused a stir, Donald Trump’s Republican presidential campaign sought to shift the focus to Hillary Clinton’s ties to Russia.

In a press release blasted out Monday evening, Trump’s campaign said the Democratic nominee’s connections “deserve scrutiny” and outlined a handful of times it said linked Clinton and her allies to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

{mosads}The campaign pointed to Wall Street Journal reports that Clinton encouraged American technology companies to invest in Russian firms while serving as secretary of State during President Obama’s first term.

It also cited stories from The New York Observer, the newspaper published by Trump’s son-in-law, and Breitbart articles that reported that Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta was on the board of an energy company that received money from an investment fund linked to Putin.

On Sunday, The New York Times published an investigation into Paul Manafort’s time consulting for Ukraine’s pro-Moscow political party. It showed that he has ties to a large network that Ukrainian government investigators say was used to “loot assets and influence elections.”

Following the published investigation, Boris Epshteyn, a senior adviser to Trump, said Clinton and her husband, former President Bill Clinton, have “real connections” to Russia.

“Because of Clinton’s time as secretary of State and Bill Clinton’s time in office, Russians control one-fifth of the uranium that’s produced in the United States of America.”

Hillary Clinton’s campaign blasted Trump on Russia prior to his foreign policy speech Monday and called on him to disclose any connections between Russia and his aides.

The back-and-forth between the campaigns comes as Trump trails Clinton in the polls. She holds a comfortable lead over him nationally as well as in battleground state and even some GOP-leaning states.