© Jonathan Ernst/ReutersPresident Trump spoke with Vladimir V. Putin on Jan. 28. His national security adviser, Michael T. Flynn, right, resigned Monday
Phone records and intercepted calls show that members of Donald J. Trump's 2016 presidential campaign and other Trump associates had repeated contacts with senior Russian intelligence officials in the year before the election, according to four current and former American officials.
American law enforcement and intelligence agencies intercepted the communications around the same time they were discovering evidence that Russia was trying to disrupt the presidential election by hacking into the Democratic National Committee, three of the officials said. The intelligence agencies then sought to learn whether the Trump campaign was colluding with the Russians on the hacking or other efforts to influence the election.
The officials interviewed in recent weeks said that, so far, they had seen no evidence of such cooperation.But the intercepts alarmed American intelligence and law enforcement agencies, in part because of the amount of contact that was occurring while Mr. Trump was
speaking glowingly about the Russian president, Vladimir V. Putin. At one point last summer, Mr. Trump
said at a campaign event that he hoped Russian intelligence services had stolen Hillary Clinton's emails and would make them public.
The officials said the intercepted communications were not limited to Trump campaign officials, and included other associates of Mr. Trump. On the Russian side, the contacts also included members of the government outside of the intelligence services, they said.
All of the current and former officials spoke on the condition of anonymity because the continuing investigation is classified.Read More
Comment: Yes, the investigation is classified and the evidence as well. The evidence HAS to be classified, because it doesn't exist! This story is merely another piece of propaganda meant to demonize Russia and the Trump Administration planted by the Establishment who want more than anything to stop US rapprochement with Russia.
The Kremlin
responded by making it clear that they see right through the efforts of the Establishment:
"Those reports are not based on concrete facts," Dmitry Peskov stressed on Wednesday, noting "there are five different sources in the story and none is named. So you see, really laughable stories are now given a go."
The Russian president's spokesman added, "Let's not just believe the press. It's difficult lately tell the real deal from fakes and hoaxes," referring to reports in the New York Times and on CNN which cited anonymous US sources as saying that several people close to President Donald Trump had communicated with Russian intelligence officers during the presidential campaign.
[...]
"It's common tactic to discredit a person," Senator Vladimir Dzhabarov told RIA Novosti, commenting on expose stories run by the New York Times and CNN, adding that it's a continuation of the same campaign that forced Michael Flynn's resignation as National Security Advisor earlier.
"Trump should realize that the real target of such leaks is him. Unless the American president puts an end to this witch-hunt and stops surrendering his people, this will all end bad. The final goal of his enemies is to impeach the president," he added.
Comment: See also: