US President Donald Trump has called for an investigation into an apparent leak of classified intelligence about Russian interference in the 2020 presidential campaign.
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Trump says the leak was meant to hurt Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders.
He also said he was not briefed on the intelligence that Russia was aiming to boost Sanders' campaign, while taking aim at a key Democratic lawmaker and foe for allegedly spreading the information.
A source from the US Congress told Reuters on Friday that intelligence officials had told lawmakers that Russia appears to be engaging in disinformation and propaganda campaigns to help both Sanders and Trump.
"I read where Russia is helping Bernie Sanders. Nobody said it to me at all. Nobody briefed me about that at all," Trump told reporters as he left the White House for a trip to India on Sunday.
"They leaked it, Adam Schiff and his group, they leaked it to the papers and - as usual - they ought to investigate Adam Schiff for leaking that information," Trump said.
Schiff, a Democrat, served as the lead prosecutor in Trump's impeachment trial in the US Senate.
"I think what it could be is, you know, the Democrats are treating Bernie Sanders very unfairly and it sounds to me like a leak from Adam Schiff because they don't want Bernie Sanders to represent them," Trump said.
Sanders, a US senator from Vermont, is now the frontrunner for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination.
As a self-described democratic socialist, he is a candidate Trump is believed to prefer to take on in a general election, to bolster his argument that the Democrats are pushing a socialist agenda.
Australian Associated Press
