So, about that diversity visa program that Donald Trump is using to blame Sen. Chuck Schumer for the attack in New York Tuesday? Here's the quick and dirty facts.
The diversity visa program cited by Mr. Trump was created in 1990 by a bill supported by Mr. Schumer, passed by bipartisan votes and signed into law by a Republican president, George Bush. Mr. Schumer supported getting rid of the program as part of a comprehensive plan to overhaul the nation's immigration laws crafted by eight lawmakers and passed by the Senate in 2013. But the plan was blocked in the House by Republicans who objected to other elements of the plan that they considered too permissive.
Senator Jeff Flake, a Republican from Arizona who has broken with Mr. Trump, came to Mr. Schumer's defense on Wednesday. "Actually, the Gang of 8, including @SenSchumer, did away with the Diversity Visa Program as part of broader reforms," Mr. Flake wrote on Twitter. "I know, I was there."
You know who else was there? Then-Sen. Dan Coats (R-IN), who voted for it. Why does that matter? Because now Coats is Trump's Director of National Intelligence.
But the continuing existence of that program is all thanks to Republicans—if House Republicans had not blocked the comprehensive immigration reform bill in 2013, the diversity visa program would be a thing of the past.