How Is Trump Tied To Russia: What The FBI Knows And Is Doing About President's Relationship To Vladimr Putin, Kremlin

The FBI refused to publicly deny reports about communications between Donald Trump’s associates and Russian officials during the 2016 presidential campaign despite a White House request, CNN reported Thursday.

Quoting U.S. officials briefed on the matter, CNN reported the White House had asked for the denial of reports of the alleged contacts first published by the New York Times and CNN on Feb. 14 in violation of procedures regarding pending federal investigations.

The president repeatedly has denied he had anything to do with Russia, most recently at his news conference last Thursday after repeated prodding by reporters. But the New York Times noted Russian officials have acknowledged pre-election contacts at least twice.

U.S. intelligence officials have concluded Russia attempted to influence the U.S. presidential election by hacking the Democratic National Committee’s emails and turning them over to WikiLeaks for publication.

CNN said White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus talked to FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe about the reports Feb. 15 during a meeting on another issue, but a White House official said it didn’t happen that way, rather McCabe called Priebus to say the Times story had overstated what the FBI actually knew.

FBI Director James Comey refused a request that the FBI talk to reporters on background to defuse the story because of the ongoing investigation. The White House has called the story “complete garbage.”

CNN earlier reported the contacts between the Trump campaign and Russian officials were continuous, and members of the House and Senate Intelligence committees are investigating the issue despite the White House denials.

Following a Feb. 17 briefing with Comey, Sen. Angus King of Maine said he was surprised at the intensity of Priebus’ denials.

Trump’s first national security adviser, Michael Flynn, was forced to resign as a result of misrepresenting the contacts he had with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak to Vice President Mike Pence. U.S. intelligence officials said Flynn talked to Kislyak about U.S. sanctions against Russia during the transition period.

Trump has called the issue a “fake news” and denied any of his aides had contacts with the Russians. Trump has said the real issue is who leaked the information to the press, calling the media the “enemy” of the American people.

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