Former secretary of state Hillary Clinton, who lost to Donald Trump in 2016, has interviewed House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on her podcast.
During a discussion of the Capitol riot, Clinton floated the baseless theory that Trump may have spoken to Russian President Vladimir Putin on January 6.
"We learned a lot about our system of government over the last four years, with a President who disdains democracy, and as you have said numerous times, has other agendas," said Clinton.
"What they all are, I don't think we yet know. I hope, historically, we will find out who he's beholden to, who pulls his strings.
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Advertise with NZME."I would love to see his phone records, see whether he was talking to Putin the day the insurgents invaded our Capitol.
"But we now know that not just him but his enablers, his accomplices, his cult members, have the same disregard for democracy."
She went on to suggest establishing a 9/11-style commission to figure out exactly what happened that day.
In her response, Pelosi did not push back on Clinton's Putin theory – in fact, she bolstered it.
"I don't know what Putin has on him politically, financially or personally, but what happened last week was a gift to Putin, because Putin wants to undermine democracy in our country and throughout the world," the Speaker said.
"And these people – unbeknownst to them, maybe – are Putin puppets. They were doing Putin's business when they did that at the incitement of the President."