Russia probe looking at current WH official: report
Investigators in the federal probe of possible ties between President Trump’s campaign and Russia now consider a current White House official a “significant person of interest,” according to a new report.
The senior White House adviser is someone close to Trump, The Washington Post reported Friday.
{mosads}People familiar with the matter confirmed the official is under scrutiny to The Post, but would not further identify them.
The investigation’s intensity is accelerating in coming weeks, but that does not mean criminal charges are near, the report said.
Investigators reportedly are keenly interested in people who previously had power in Trump’s campaign and administration but are now absent.
White House press secretary Sean Spicer on Friday said the probe would find no collusion involving Trump’s campaign.
“As the President stated before — a thorough investigation will confirm that there was no collusion between the campaign and any foreign entity,” he said in a statement.
Current administration officials who have acknowledged past contacts with Russian officials include Attorney General Jeff Sessions and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson.
White House senior adviser Jared Kushner, who is also Trump’s son-in-law, has also admitted previous interactions with Russian officials.
Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein on Thursday told senators that the FBI’s Russia probe is both a criminal and counterintelligence investigation.
Trump on Thursday denounced the appointment of a special counsel to lead the probe, calling it an unprecedented “witch hunt” that “hurts the country.”
“There is no collusion between certainly myself and my campaign,” he added. “But I can always speak for myself and the Russians. Zero.”
Rosenstein on Wednesday announced former FBI Director Robert Mueller as special counsel of the federal probe of Russian interference in the 2016 race.
Trump has voiced rising frustration in the probe since firing former FBI Director James Comey last week.
The president has admitted that Comey’s ouster was in part due to his involvement in the investigation.
– Updated at 3:38 p.m.