Sen. Richard Blumenthal Stands Up To Trump’s Twitter ‘Bullying’ Over His Military Service

Photo by U.S. Department of Agriculture/Flickr.

On Thursday, a bipartisan group of senators introduced a bill that would require a judicial review in order to remove a special counsel from office. The bill is designed to prevent President Trump from firing Robert Mueller, the special counsel investigating whether he and his team colluded with Russia during the 2016 election. One of the bill’s co-sponsors, Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Connecticut), has personally taken heat from the president for saying that Mueller “must follow the money” in his investigation.

Last month, reports surfaced showing that Mueller has widened the scope of his investigation to the finances of Trump and his associates. Trump is furious over Mueller’s probe into his tax returns and organization, as well as possible money-laundering schemes involving Russian oligarchs. So when Blumenthal tweeted about the financial aspect of the investigation, Trump was livid, going so far as to criticize the senator’s military service.

Later on Monday, Trump saluted veterans for Purple Heart Day.

Then got back to insulting Blumenthal.

Blumenthal spent six years in the Marine Corps Reserves during the Vietnam era. He was criticized during the 2010 election for overstating his service and implying he served overseas. Although Blumenthal never served in Vietnam, Trump has little reason to disrespect his service. Trump received four deferments from Vietnam for education and one for bone spurs in his heels. During the 2016 election, Trump fought with the Muslim parents of a soldier killed in Iraq. He also made disparaging statements about former POW Sen. John McCain (R-Arizona), saying, “I like people who weren’t captured.”

Blumenthal responded in-person to Trump’s heated tweets at a press conference held Monday to discuss the Special Counsel Independence Protection Act. “They are slurs, and I am not going to be distracted or bullied by them,” he said. “They simply reinforce, in fact, the need, in my view, for special counsel legislation because these kinds of tweets, intimidation directed at the special counsel, indicate that the president might try to fire them.”