Pelosi: 'I want to know what the Russians have on Donald Trump'

House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi (Calif.) on Sunday reiterated her demand that the Federal Bureau of Investigation probe President Trump’s ties to Russia.

She made the call one day after Trump downplayed Russian President Vladimir Putin’s human rights record by questioning whether the United States, which has a long record of extrajudicial killings, is pure on the matter.

“I want to know what the Russians have on Donald TrumpDonald TrumpHouston cheers Bush’s Super Bowl coin toss Kasparov: Comparing USA to Russia like comparing surgeon to Jack the Ripper Four areas Republicans have moved to uproot Obama’s legacy MORE. I think we have to have an investigation by the FBI into his financial, personal and political connections to Russia and we want to see his tax returns so we can have truth in the relationship [with] Putin, whom he admires,” Pelosi said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”

Pelosi made the same demand on Jan. 13 after a closed-door briefing by U.S. intelligence officials about Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election. The CIA has concluded that Russian intelligence tried to swing the election in Trump’s favor.

Trump’s relationship with Putin has come under scrutiny again after he told Fox News’s Bill O’Reilly on Saturday that he respects the Russian president, who has cracked down on political opposition, non-government advocacy groups and domestic critics.

“I do respect him. Well, I respect a lot of people, but that doesn’t mean I’ll get along with them,” Trump said.

When O’Reilly asserted that “Putin is a killer,” Trump compared Russia’s record with that of the United States.

“There are a lot of killers. We have a lot of killers,” Trump said. “Well, you think our country is so innocent?”

Earlier on Sunday, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnellMitch McConnellFormer Pentagon, CIA spokesman criticizes Trump for singling out federal judge Kasich: ‘No equivalence’ with Putin’s ‘brutal regime’ Trump taps Pence to head voter fraud investigation MORE (R-Ky.) disagreed with Trump’s characterization of Putin and defended the United States’ standing in the world as “exceptional.”

“I don’t think there’s any equivalency,” McConnell said of the records of the United States and Russia, calling Putin “a thug.”

He pointed to Russia’s annexation of Crimea, a territory on the Black Sea that formerly belonged to Ukraine.

“America is exceptional,” he said. “There’s a clear distinction here.”

“I obviously don’t see this issue the same way he does,” McConnell added in reference to Trump.