IMC - Senior Trump
administration officials have confirmed White House chief of staff Reince
Priebus had a conversation with senior FBI officials about published news
reports on alleged communications between officials from Trump's presidential
campaign and Russia.
The discussions
between the White House and the Federal Bureau of Investigation on the subject
of an ongoing FBI probe could violate longstanding Department of Justice ethics
rules restricting such White House contact with the FBI on pending
investigations.
But the senior
administration officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to reporters
early Friday, strongly denied media reports (CNN and Associated Press) that the FBI refused a
White House request to publicly repudiate a New York Times report that alleged
communications between close Trump associates and Russian government officials
during the 2016 campaign.
'What
can we do about this'
CNN reported that Priebus reached
out to FBI Director James Comey and Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, asking them
to debunk stories about alleged Trump associates' contacts with Russia.
Comey refused.
Senior administration officials
told reporters Friday that McCabe initiated the conversation with Priebus after
a White House meeting, telling him there was nothing to the reports.
Officials said Priebus asked
McCabe "what can we do about this" and that the White House was
“getting crushed” on the story.
Comey reportedly called Priebus
and told him the agency could not issue an FBI statement debunking the
report,according to senior officials.
Pelosi
calls for investigation
Democratic House Minority leader
Nancy Pelosi issued a statement Friday calling for the Justice Department to
investigate Priebus' contact with the FBI.
“The Trump White House has been
caught trying to pressure the FBI into undermining a vital national security
investigation into explosive ties between senior Trump officials and Russian
intelligence agents, an action which is in violation of Department of Justice
rules and may be illegal,” Pelosi's statement read.
Trump has been dogged by
persistent questions about his potential ties to Russia since he won the 2016
presidential election.
Russia
interference being probed
U.S. intelligence services have
concluded Russia intervened in the U.S. election by hacking into Democratic
National Committee emails and leaking them, as well as pushing fake reports
aimed at hurting the reputation of Democratic presidential candidate Hillary
Clinton.
U.S. intelligence services and
several congressional committees are investigating Russia's interference in the
U.S election.
Last week, National Security
Adviser Michael Flynn resigned following reports he misled Vice President Mike
Pence and other White House officials about his frequent contacts with Russian
Ambassador Sergey Kislyak during the transition period before Trump's
inauguration.
Trump and his team members deny
having had contacts with Russian officials during the presidential
campaign.Last week, Trump said “nobody that I now of” talked to Russian
intelligence service officials.
Early Friday, the president took
to Twitter to blast the FBI and demand that “leakers” be found.
"The FBI is totally unable
to stop the national security 'leakers' that have permeated our government for
a long time. They can't even ... find the leakers within the FBI itself.
Classified information is being given to media that could have a devastating
effect on U.S. FIND NOW," he tweeted.
Source : voanews.com