Briana Koeneman
Russia Tests Trump With Treaty-Violating Missile Deployment
The news came the same day the Pentagon said Russian military planes "buzzed" a U.S. naval ship.
LEARN MOREPosted: 8:59 a.m. EST Feb 15, 2017
Members of Donald Trump's presidential campaign were reportedly in communication with Russian officials ahead of the 2016 presidential election.
Current and former U.S. officials told The New York Times that intercepted calls and phone records showed several of now-President Trump's aides and associates had "repeated contacts" with senior Russian intelligence officials.
The content of those calls and exactly who were on them is unclear.
The Times' sources only identified a single participant — Trump's former campaign chairman Paul Manafort. He called the report "absurd."
Manafort resigned from his position just a few months into the campaign after coming under fire for his business ties with Russia and the Ukraine.
U.S. law enforcement and intelligence agencies apparently came across these communications while they were investigating allegations that Russia tried to interfere with the election by hacking into the Democratic National Committee.
So far, officials say there is no evidence that the Trump campaign was working with Russia to orchestrate any hacks.
Now, as CNN points out, it's not unusual for campaign staffers and various members of foreign governments to talk. But officials say the frequency and "level" of the Trump advisers involved in these calls were enough to prompt further investigation.
Trump told ABC News in January that no one on his campaign had contact with Russia ahead of the election.
Trump called the allegations "non-sense." A spokesperson for Russian President Vladimir Putin told local media on Wednesday the reports are "absolutely groundless, not based on any facts."
