Intercepted Russian communications part of inquiry into Trump associates
BREAKING – The New York Times is reporting that the multi-agency investigation led by the FBI into Russian funding of Donald Trump’s campaign centers around intercepted Russian communications and three of Donald Trump’s senior campaign advisers.
According to the New York Times, the “broad investigation into possible links between Russian officials and associates of President-elect Donald J. Trump, including his former campaign chairman Paul Manafort, current and former senior American officials said. The continuing counterintelligence investigation means that Mr. Trump will take the oath of office on Friday with his associates under investigation and after the intelligence agencies concluded that the Russian government had worked to help elect him. As president, Mr. Trump will oversee those agencies and have the authority to redirect or stop at least some of these efforts.”
Three Donald Trump advisers under investigation for Russian connections
The report confirms that the counterintelligence investigation is in part based on the business connections that Trump’s senior advisors have with Russia including Paul Manafort, who has done business with both Russia and Ukraine. According to the New York Times report, Paul Manafort’s “contacts there were under surveillance by the National Security Agency for suspected links to Russia’s Federal Security Service, one of the officials said.”
Sources told the New York Times, that Paul Manafort is one of at least three Donald Trump campaign advisors who are being investigated for their possible connections to Russia. In addition to Paul Manafort, Carter Page a foreign policy adviser to Trump, and Roger Stone, another of Donald Trump’s campaign advisers, are under investigation.
Paul Manafort: “The F.B.I. investigation into Mr. Manafort began last spring, and was an outgrowth of a criminal investigation into his work for a pro-Russian political party in Ukraine and for the country’s former president, Viktor F. Yanukovych,” according to the New York Times.
Roger Stone: “Mr. Stone, a longtime friend of Mr. Trump’s, said in a speech in Florida last summer that he had communicated with Julian Assange, the founder of WikiLeaks, the anti-secrecy group that published the hacked Democratic emails. During the speech, Mr. Stone predicted further leaks of documents, a prediction that came true within weeks,” according to the New York Times.
The FBI is leading the investigations with support from multiple other agencies including the National Security Agency, the CIA and the Treasury Department’s financial crimes unit. And in recent weeks the investigators have accelerated their investigation efforts. And “one official said intelligence reports based on some of the wiretapped communications had been provided to the White House.”
Worry Trump might try to “obstruct” investigation
According to the New York Times, “Of the half-dozen current and former officials who confirmed the existence of the investigations, some said they were providing information because they feared the new administration would obstruct their efforts.”
