Keller @ Large: Jill Stein Blames 'Smear Campaign' After Being Drawn Into Russia Probe

BOSTON (CBS) -- Green Party nominee for president Jill Stein says there was absolutely no contact from the Russians to her campaign aimed at influencing her behavior during the 2016 election.

The Lexington doctor sat down with WBZ-TV political analyst Jon Keller in an interview that aired Sunday morning. Her campaign apparatus is under investigation by the Senate Intelligence Committee that's looking at "collusion with the Russians," according to BuzzFeed.

"This is a year's worth of a smear campaign that began actually by some Democratic party operatives after the embarrassing emails revealed collusion by the Democratic party with Hillary Clinton's campaign in order to interfere with our election," Stein said. "The same people who launched that smear campaign are now celebrating that I'm being investigated, really as a consequence of this smear."

Stein then addressed a widely circulated image of her at Russian President Vladimir Putin's table at a 2015 banquet honoring the Russian propaganda channel RT.

"It was of service to the American people to be heard any way that I could," Stein said of her attendance at the event.

Stein also discussed the issue of whether she was a spoiler in the presidential election, and her future plans in politics.

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