The White House
unsuccessfully pressed the FBI and other intelligence agencies to
discredit recent news reports asserting alleged contacts between
associates of President Trump and Russian officials, a U.S. official said Thursday.
The
official who is not authorized to comment publicly said the White House
sought to specifically refute reports earlier this month in The New York Times claiming that Trump associates had repeated contacts with Russian intelligence officials during the course of the past year.
CNN first reported the development earlier Thursday.
In
addition to the FBI, the official said other agencies were approached
with a similar request. The official declined to elaborate or identify
which agencies received similar requests from White House chief of staff
Reince Priebus.
Earlier
this month, a U.S. official said a months-long inquiry into contacts
between Russian government officials and associates of Trump’s campaign
and business interests was continuing despite the firing of national
security adviser Michael Flynn for misleading White House officials
about his communication with Russia.
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The
federal inquiry — which has amassed intercepts of telephone calls,
business records and subject interviews — is looking at how Russian
officials sought to meddle in the November election, said the official
who is not authorized to comment publicly. The official added that there
was no current evidence of collusion to tilt the election.
The
extent and purpose of those alleged contacts, believed to involve
a limited number of Trump campaign and business associates, continue to
be weighed, including whether the associates were aware they were
communicating with Russian intelligence officials or those working on
behalf of the Russian government, the official said. READ MORE:
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