Jessica Estepa

USA TODAY

President Trump tweeted on Friday a photo of Sen. Chuck Schumer enjoying a doughnut with Russian President Vladimir Putin, saying there should be an investigation into Schumer's ties with Russia and calling the Senate minority leader a hypocrite.

But pause. What's actually happening in that photo?

The photograph was taken during Putin's 2003 visit to New York City, Schumer's office confirmed. Schumer, then in his first Senate term, and Putin were at the opening of a Lukoil gas station in Manhattan. Per Getty Images, which had photos from its archives of that day, the senator spoke about U.S.-Russia relations.

The senator retorted on Friday to Trump's tweet, saying he'd "happily" discuss his meeting with Putin:

And that they were eating Krispy Kreme doughnuts.

Trump's tweet came as the photo was making its rounds on the right-wing sites, such as The Gateway Pundit and Infowars. Trump's director of social media, Dan Scavino Jr., tweeted the photo at Schumer earlier on Friday.

Per White House pool reports, deputy press secretary Sarah Sanders also pushed Friday the Schumer-Putin connection, wondering why it wasn't considered a story, given the attention paid to Attorney General Jeff Sessions twice meeting with the Russian ambassador in 2016. Sessions on Thursday recused himself from overseeing investigations into Russian interference in last year's election.

Schumer spokesman Matt House declined to comment on Sanders' statements, instead noting that the senator did not take issue with anyone meeting with ambassadors or officials.

"The problem is that Sessions lied to the (Senate) Judiciary Committee about it, and is in charge of the investigation into contacts between the two sides, to which Sessions has ties," he said in an email.

Sessions said during his Senate confirmation hearing that he didn't meet with Russian officials last year, a claim that was shown to be incorrect Wednesday night in a story by The Washington Post.

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