The nation’s highest law enforcement and intelligence agencies have been investigating ties between Russia and President-elect Donald Trump for months, McClatchyDC reported Wednesday.
The FBI, CIA, NSA, the Justice Department, and the Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, as well as various representatives of the Director of National Intelligence, are involved in the investigation.
The agencies began exploring Russian interference in the presidential election in spring 2016 after the CIA received word of a tape recording that allegedly described a Kremlin plot to funnel money to Trump.
They were also concerned by reports from Christopher Steele, the former British intelligence officer who produced the “oppo” – the opposition research dossier – that was allegedly made public last week by BuzzFeed. Both President Obama and President-elect Trump were briefed on the dossier earlier this month. The dossier suggests that Russian president Vladmir Putin has compromising material on Trump and could use it to manipulate him.
Later, the team sought to discover who financed the hacks of the Democratic National Committee and Trump’s Democratic opponent in the 2016 election, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. The hacks produced thousands of emails that were made public via WikiLeaks, resulting in embarrassment for Clinton and the Democratic Party.
The working group found evidence that Russian funds may have been used to pay hackers who carried out the cyberattacks. According to Steele, Russian consulates delivered large sums of money to Kremlin operatives through a system normally used to pay Russian-American pensioners.
The intelligence group also explored potential Russian ties between three specific but unnamed members of Trump’s campaign staff or his business representatives.
Trump’s former campaign chairman Paul Manafort could be one such person of interest. The New York times found late last year that Manafort took money from a pro-Russian political party in Ukraine. A subsequent investigation revealed that he attempted to lobby members of Congress through third parties to support Viktor Yanukovich, Ukraine’s pro-Russian president.
Trump’s cabinet picks – including Rex Tillerson and Mike Flynn – also have significant ties to Russia. Tillerson was awarded the Order of Friendship by Putin himself, a high civilian honor. Flynn, a former Lieutenant General, has publicly defended Russia against allegations of war crimes in Syria.
According to reports, the Kremlin was quite pleased with Trump’s cabinet picks.
President-elect Trump’s transition team did not respond to a request for comment regarding the inquiry.
Trump’s Russia Problem
Speculation about Trump’s Russian ties has been swirling for months. No less than 17 security and intelligence agencies found that Russia was behind the hacks of the Clinton campaign and the DNC. But Trump insisted that nobody knew whether the hack originated with Russia.
“It could be Russia, but it could also be China. Could also be lots of other people. It also could be somebody sitting on their bed that weighs 400 pounds, okay?”
The intelligence community later found that Russia’s motive for the attacks was to damage Clinton and help Trump get elected. Earlier this month, Trump slammed the intelligence community’s focus on Russia as the source of cyberattacks, referring to the ongoing investigation as a “political witch hunt.”
But a few days later at his first press conference since winning the election, Trump finally admitted that Russia was the source of the hacks.
Questions Remain
The Senate Intelligence Committee said last week that it would be opening an investigation into reported contact between Trump’s campaign and Russia. Trump’s campaign has denied any contact with Russian agents or officials.
McClatchyDC suggests that the inter-agency working group is still at work. The BBC, however, indicates that their investigation might already be over. But it is doubtful that such an investigation would be allowed to continue after Trump is inaugurated two days from now.
Featured image via YouTube video
