Nyet on your life!

WH nixes Vlad’s bid to quiz former US ambassador

Facing overwhelming bipartisan pressure, the White House said Thursday that President Trump would not allow Russian authorities to grill former US Ambassador to Moscow Michael McFaul and other Americans.

“It is a proposal that was made in sincerity by President Putin, but President Trump disagrees with it. Hopefully, President Putin will have the 12 identified Russians come to the United States to prove their innocence or guilt,” said spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders.

The reference was to 12 Russian military officers indicted by the Justice Department for hacking the Democratic National Committee before the 2016 election.

Vladimir Putin had told Trump at their Helsinki summit that special counsel Robert Mueller’s team could visit Russia and observe authorities there question the 12 hackers indicted last Friday.

In exchange, the Russian strongman wanted his own people to have a crack at McFaul (inset) and 10 others.

The White House had said Wednesday that Trump and “his team” were still evaluating the offer. Sanders’ announcement Thursday came shortly before the Senate voted unanimously — 98-0 — to oppose giving the Kremlin access to McFaul.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, who introduced the resolution defending McFaul, said the vote was needed even after Trump opted to reject Putin’s request because the White House’s statement wasn’t strong enough.

“I call on President Trump to say once and for all, not through his spokespeople, that the lopsided, disgraceful trade he called an ‘incredible offer’ is now off the table,” the New York Democrat said.

Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) tweeted, “Under no circumstances should #Putin officials ever be allowed to come into the U.S. & ‘question’ Americans on their list.”

McFaul, ambassador to Russia under President Barack Obama, called the idea “crazy” on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.”

“When the White House was given the opportunity to categorically reject this . . . crazy, cockamamie scheme with no relationship to facts and reality whatsoever, the White House refused to do that,” he said.

Unbowed by the criticism, the White House announced later that Trump had invited Putin to Washington for a summit in the fall.