On Wednesday, the Kremlin denied a report from the New York Times that Russian intelligence officers had any contact with members of the Donald Trump campaign during presidential election season, as reported by Reuters.
This denial follows a New York Times report about U.S. intelligence intercepting communications between the two parties. The Times reported that four anonymous U.S. officials had told them about Trump aides’ repeated calls with Russian intelligence. In response, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov didn’t quite shout, “You’re fake news!” However, he steadfastly denied the report: “Let’s not believe anonymous information. It’s a newspaper report which is not based on any facts.”
Paul Manafort, Trump’s second campaign manager — who left due to his shadowy ties to Russia and the Ukraine — told the Financial Times that he has never directly spoken to anyone directly involved in the Russian government:
“I have never had any involvement with Putin or the Russian government on any matter. I have never knowingly spoken to Russian intelligence officers and I have never been involved in any projects that include the Russian government or the Putin administration or parties acting in concert with or on behalf of the Russian government.”
Despite mountains of evidence and his intelligence officers telling him otherwise, Donald Trump also continues to deny Russia had any part in the election. The new reports don’t fare well for the administration, especially after National Security Advisor Gen. Michael Flynn resigned due to mounting evidence of his ties to Russia.
(Via Reuters & Financial Times)