White House rips Trump for urging Putin to release dirt on Hunter Biden

White House communications director Kate Bedingfield on Wednesday slammed former President Trump for encouraging Russian President Vladimir Putin to release potentially damaging information about President Biden's son Hunter Biden.

"What kind of American, let alone an ex-president, thinks that this is the right time to enter into a scheme with Vladimir Putin and brag about his connections to Vladimir Putin?" Bedingfield said at a press briefing. "There's only one, and it's Donald Trump."

Trump in an interview published Tuesday with Just the News raised an unproven claim that Hunter Biden received a $3.5 million payment from the former wife of an ex-mayor of Moscow.

"I would think Putin would know the answer to that," Trump said. "I think he should release it. I think we should know that answer."

Hunter Biden's legal team previously called the claim he was paid $3.5 million false.

Trump's appeal to Putin comes as the Russian president directs an invasion into Ukraine that has killed thousands of civilians and forced millions to flee the country.

Trump's most recent comments harked back to his efforts leading up to the 2020 election to paint the Biden family as corrupt by raising business dealings Hunter Biden had with Ukraine. The former president was impeached for the first time in late 2019 after he appeared to leverage security assistance for Ukraine in exchange for an investigation into the Biden family's business ties to the country.

The former president has faced criticism, including from members of his own party, over his flattering comments about Putin earlier this year. In an interview last week, Trump called Putin "smart" but said the invasion of Ukraine was a "big mistake."