MS NOW’s Nicolle Wallace said she had to “pick my jaw up from the table” after reading what she called “stunning” new reporting from ProPublica, which found that a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin bankrolled Donald Trump Jr.’s lavish May wedding celebration in the Bahamas.

Umar Kremlev, who is president of the International Boxing Association, reportedly spent hundreds of thousands renting a private island for the event. He also organized a fireworks show for the couple’s guests.

The celebration took place just days after Kremlev traveled with Putin to China as part of a Russian delegation, according to Chinese state media. The businessman has been sanctioned by the Ukrainian government due to his ties to the Russian president.

In a post on Instagram, Trump Jr.’s new wife, Bettina Trump, defended letting Kremlev pay for the two-day affair, calling it “an extraordinarily generous wedding gift from a friend.”

On Monday’s “Deadline: White House,” Wallace asked how one of Putin’s “cadre of oligarchs” apparently became a member of Trump Jr.’s “inner circle.” She also questioned why the president’s son, who, according to Forbes, boasts a net worth of around $300 million, would need Kremlev to foot the bill.

“What is the need for money?” she asked, adding that she thought the president’s son was “making money hand over fist.”

According to Wallace, an affinity for Russia appears to run the Trump family.

“Getting along with the murderous dictator of Russia is an odd point of public pride for Donald Trump,” she said, pointing to the many times the president has boasted about his “very good” and “fantastic” personal relationship with Putin.

The MS NOW host also noted that during the 2016 presidential campaign, Trump Jr. met with a Russian lawyer who claimed to have damaging information on Hillary Clinton. In an email responding to the offer for dirt on his father’s opponent, he responded: “If it’s what you say I love it especially later in the summer.”

A decade later, Wallace said the new reporting reveals that the connections between the Trumps and Russia just “keep on coming.”

You can watch Wallace’s full commentary in the clip at the top of the page.

The post Nicolle Wallace says she had to ‘pick my jaw up’ over new Trump Jr. report appeared first on MS NOW.

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