[Zagadka]

FBI has info suggesting coordination between Trump aides, Russia: report
http://thehill.com/policy/national-secu ... des-russia

The FBI has information suggesting that associates of President Trump may have worked with Russian operatives to release information aimed at hurting former Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton's campaign, CNN reported Wednesday, citing U.S. officials.

FBI Director James Comey on Monday revealed that his agency is investigating Trump and his aides' potential ties to Russia, as well as possible coordination with Moscow.

The revelation confirmed months-long speculation that Trump's aides were included in federal probes of Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election.

Questions about his and his aides' ties to Russia have roiled Trump's young administration. His first National Security Adviser Michael Flynn resigned last month amid revelations that he discussed sanctions with Russia's ambassador Sergey Kislyak, and Attorney General Jeff Sessions recused himself from investigations into the Trump campaign after it was revealed that he failed to disclose two meetings with Kislyak that happened during Trump's presidential bid.

EDIT; second source

US Officials: Info suggests Trump associates may have coordinated with Russians
http://www.cnn.com/2017/03/22/politics/ ... index.html

The FBI has information that indicates associates of President Donald Trump communicated with suspected Russian operatives to possibly coordinate the release of information damaging to Hillary Clinton's campaign, US officials told CNN.

This is partly what FBI Director James Comey was referring to when he made a bombshell announcement Monday before Congress that the FBI is investigating the Trump campaign's ties to Russia, according to one source.

The FBI is now reviewing that information, which includes human intelligence, travel, business and phone records and accounts of in-person meetings, according to those U.S. officials. The information is raising the suspicions of FBI counterintelligence investigators that the coordination may have taken place, though officials cautioned that the information was not conclusive and that the investigation is ongoing.

In his statement on Monday Comey said the FBI began looking into possible coordination between Trump campaign associates and suspected Russian operatives because the bureau had gathered "a credible allegation of wrongdoing or reasonable basis to believe an American may be acting as an agent of a foreign power."

The White House did not comment and the FBI declined to comment.

White House press secretary Sean Spicer maintained Monday after Comey's testimony that there was no evidence to suggest any collusion took place.

"Investigating it and having proof of it are two different things," Spicer said.

One law enforcement official said the information in hand suggests "people connected to the campaign were in contact and it appeared they were giving the thumbs up to release information when it was ready." But other U.S. officials who spoke to CNN say it's premature to draw that inference from the information gathered so far since it's largely circumstantial.

The FBI has already been investigating four former Trump campaign associates -- Michael Flynn, Paul Manafort, Roger Stone and Carter Page -- for contacts with Russians known to US intelligence.

All four have denied improper contacts and CNN has not confirmed any of them are the subjects of the information the FBI is reviewing.

One of the obstacles the sources say the FBI now faces in finding conclusive intelligence is that communications between Trump's associates and Russians have ceased in recent months given the public focus on Russia's alleged ties to the Trump campaign. Some Russian officials have also changed their methods of communications, making monitoring more difficult, the officials said.