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Former CIA Director, John Brennan said it became clear last summer that Russia was attempting to interfere in the Presidential election, and that he warned the head of Russia’s FSB security service that such interference would hurt U.S. ties.
Brennan testified on Tuesday in Washington at a hearing of the U.S. House of Representatives Intelligence Committee.
“It should be clear to everyone Russia brazenly interfered in our 2016 presidential election process and that they undertook these activities in spite our strong protests and explicit warning that they do not do so.”
Brennan said he believed he was the first U.S. official to raise the matter of election interference with the Russians, citing a meeting he had on Aug. 4 last year with FSB head Alexander Bortnikov.
He said he raised published media reports of Russian attempts to meddle in the election with the Russian official, who denied any involvement by Moscow.
Brennan said he briefed then President Barack Obama and other top officials, and that he discussed the matter with both Republican and Democratic U.S. congressional leaders in August and September.
U.S. intelligence agencies concluded in January that Moscow tried to tilt the November presidential election campaign in Republican Donald Trump’s favour, including by hacking into and leaking the emails of senior Democrats.
Moscow has always denied the allegation.
The early months of Trump’s presidency have been clouded by FBI and congressional probes into Russian meddling and possible collusion by Trump’s campaign. Trump has denied any collusion.
U.S. President Donald Trump talked up the prospects of peace between Israelis and Palestinians on Tuesday, saying he believed both sides were committed to an historic deal, but he offered no concrete proposals on how to get there.
After an hour of talks with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Bethlehem, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, Trump condemned the bomb attack in Manchester that killed 22 people, calling the perpetrators “evil losers”.
He then moved on to address efforts towards Middle East peace.
“I am committed to trying to achieve a peace agreement between the Israelis and the Palestinians and I intend to do everything I can to help them achieve that goal,” he said, with the 50th anniversary of Israel’s capture of territories that Palestinians seek for a state approaching next month.
“President Abbas assures me he is ready to work towards that goal in good faith, and Prime Minister (Benjamin) Netanyahu has promised the same. I look forward to working with these leaders towards a lasting peace.”
While Trump has spoken frequently in the months since he took office about his desire to achieve what he has dubbed the “ultimate deal”, he has not fleshed out any strategy his administration might have towards achieving it.
He also faces difficulties at home, where he is struggling to contain a scandal after firing James Comey as FBI director two weeks ago.
He has appointed his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, as a senior adviser on brokering an agreement, while Jason Greenblatt, formerly a lawyer in Trump’s real estate group, has taken the day-to-day role of liaising with officials and leaders in the region on the nitty-gritty contours of any solution.
The last talks between the Israelis and Palestinians, led by former U.S. secretary of state John Kerry, broke down in April 2014 after around a year of largely fruitless discussion.
While both Netanyahu and Abbas have made positive noises about their readiness to negotiate, both also face domestic constraints on their freedom to manoeuvre and strike a deal.
Netanyahu must deal with opposition from rightist elements within his coalition who oppose any steps towards a two-state solution to the decades-long conflict.
Abbas’s Fatah party is at sharp odds with the Islamist group Hamas, which is in power in Gaza, leaving no unified Palestinian position on peace.
Standing alongside Trump, Abbas, 82 and in the 12th year of his original five-year term, said he was determined to deliver an agreement for all Palestinians, although he did not provide any substance on how such an objective could be achieved.
“I would like to reiterate our commitment to cooperate with you in order to make peace and forge an historic peace deal with the Israelis,” he said, speaking through an interpreter.
“And we would like to reassert our willingness to continue to work with you as partners in fighting terrorism in our region and in the world.”
Ahead of his visit to the Middle East, the second leg of a nine-day tour that began in Saudi Arabia and will move on to the Vatican, Italy and Belgium, administration officials indicated that Trump might talk about “Palestinian self-determination”, a nod towards the ultimate objective of statehood.
But in his public remarks, Trump steered clear of any such language, and did not mention what has been the goal of U.S. diplomacy for two decades: a state of Israel and an independent Palestinian state co-existing side-by-side.
During meetings with Netanyahu on Monday, Trump focused attention on the threat from Iran but also talked about the opportunities for peace in the region and how Saudi Arabia and other Arab nations were shifting their stance, potentially opening a window towards a regional agreement.
One of the long-standing regional proposals is a Saudi peace initiative that was first put forward in 2002 and has been re-endorsed several times since.
In effect, it would offer Israel recognition by the Arab world and the “normalisation” of relations in exchange for a full withdrawal from the territory Israel has occupied since the June 1967 Middle East war, including East Jerusalem.
It also urges a “just settlement” of the Palestinian refugee problem.
Netanyahu has expressed tentative support for parts of the initiative, but there are many caveats on the Israeli side, including how to resolve the ever more complex refugee issue and whether Israel would withdraw from the Golan Heights, strategic territory that Israel took from Syria in the 1967 war.
Husam Zumlot, a former adviser to Abbas who is now the Palestinian ambassador in Washington, said the contours of any deal between the Israelis and the Palestinians were well known to both sides.
If negotiations were to resume, they needed to be about the core issues, not talks about talks, he said.
“President Trump is really, really serious and he thinks peace is possible. It’s not easy, but we agree with him – peace is possible.
“All the stars are aligned,” he told Reuters. “We are ready. Everything is ready.”
U.S. President Donald Trump talked up the prospects of peace between Israelis and Palestinians on Tuesday, saying he believed both sides were committed to an historic deal, but he offered no concrete proposals on how to get there.
After an hour of talks with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Bethlehem, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, Trump condemned the bomb attack in Manchester that killed 22 people, calling the perpetrators “evil losers”.
He then moved on to address efforts towards Middle East peace.
“I am committed to trying to achieve a peace agreement between the Israelis and the Palestinians and I intend to do everything I can to help them achieve that goal,” he said, with the 50th anniversary of Israel’s capture of territories that Palestinians seek for a state approaching next month.
“President Abbas assures me he is ready to work towards that goal in good faith, and Prime Minister (Benjamin) Netanyahu has promised the same. I look forward to working with these leaders towards a lasting peace.”
While Trump has spoken frequently in the months since he took office about his desire to achieve what he has dubbed the “ultimate deal”, he has not fleshed out any strategy his administration might have towards achieving it.
He also faces difficulties at home, where he is struggling to contain a scandal after firing James Comey as FBI director two weeks ago.
He has appointed his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, as a senior adviser on brokering an agreement, while Jason Greenblatt, formerly a lawyer in Trump’s real estate group, has taken the day-to-day role of liaising with officials and leaders in the region on the nitty-gritty contours of any solution.
The last talks between the Israelis and Palestinians, led by former U.S. secretary of state John Kerry, broke down in April 2014 after around a year of largely fruitless discussion.
While both Netanyahu and Abbas have made positive noises about their readiness to negotiate, both also face domestic constraints on their freedom to manoeuvre and strike a deal.
Netanyahu must deal with opposition from rightist elements within his coalition who oppose any steps towards a two-state solution to the decades-long conflict.
Abbas’s Fatah party is at sharp odds with the Islamist group Hamas, which is in power in Gaza, leaving no unified Palestinian position on peace.
Standing alongside Trump, Abbas, 82 and in the 12th year of his original five-year term, said he was determined to deliver an agreement for all Palestinians, although he did not provide any substance on how such an objective could be achieved.
“I would like to reiterate our commitment to cooperate with you in order to make peace and forge an historic peace deal with the Israelis,” he said, speaking through an interpreter.
“And we would like to reassert our willingness to continue to work with you as partners in fighting terrorism in our region and in the world.”
Ahead of his visit to the Middle East, the second leg of a nine-day tour that began in Saudi Arabia and will move on to the Vatican, Italy and Belgium, administration officials indicated that Trump might talk about “Palestinian self-determination”, a nod towards the ultimate objective of statehood.
But in his public remarks, Trump steered clear of any such language, and did not mention what has been the goal of U.S. diplomacy for two decades: a state of Israel and an independent Palestinian state co-existing side-by-side.
During meetings with Netanyahu on Monday, Trump focused attention on the threat from Iran but also talked about the opportunities for peace in the region and how Saudi Arabia and other Arab nations were shifting their stance, potentially opening a window towards a regional agreement.
One of the long-standing regional proposals is a Saudi peace initiative that was first put forward in 2002 and has been re-endorsed several times since.
In effect, it would offer Israel recognition by the Arab world and the “normalisation” of relations in exchange for a full withdrawal from the territory Israel has occupied since the June 1967 Middle East war, including East Jerusalem.
It also urges a “just settlement” of the Palestinian refugee problem.
Netanyahu has expressed tentative support for parts of the initiative, but there are many caveats on the Israeli side, including how to resolve the ever more complex refugee issue and whether Israel would withdraw from the Golan Heights, strategic territory that Israel took from Syria in the 1967 war.
Husam Zumlot, a former adviser to Abbas who is now the Palestinian ambassador in Washington, said the contours of any deal between the Israelis and the Palestinians were well known to both sides.
If negotiations were to resume, they needed to be about the core issues, not talks about talks, he said.
“President Trump is really, really serious and he thinks peace is possible. It’s not easy, but we agree with him – peace is possible.
“All the stars are aligned,” he told Reuters. “We are ready. Everything is ready.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s wife, Sara, offered sympathetic words to visiting U.S. President Donald Trump and his wife Melania on Monday, telling them that people still loved them inspite of negative media coverage.
Standing on the red carpet and chatting minutes after Trump and the First Lady had arrived at Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion airport in Air Force One, Sara Netanyahu was caught on camera exchanging a few private words with the visitors.
“The majority of the people of Israel, unlike the media, they love us, so we tell them how you are great and they love you,” Sara said to Trump and his wife.
Trump then interjected: “We have something very much in common.”
Trump’s presidency has received widespread negative coverage in the U.S. and international media, not least over his firing of FBI director James Comey and amid an investigation into ties between his administration and Russia.
In Israel on the second leg of his first overseas trip since entering office, Trump is to hold talks separately with Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in a stopover lasting barely 28 hours.
Speaking over the noise of the president’s jet, Sara Netanyahu added: “I talk every place about how great you are,” she said, and Netanyahu backed her up saying: “I can testify to that.”
Netanyahu and his wife have a tense relationship with the Israeli media, which they have both described as biased against them.
In January, Netanyahu described the media as “left-wing” and “Bolshevik” and said they were out to bring him down.
Testifying in a libel suit the Netanyahus filed against an Israeli journalist, Sara Netanyahu told the court: “Everything that is published about me, it’s all lies, evil lies that bear no connection with who I really am …
“The media uses me as a tool to try and topple the prime minister.”
Sara’s red-carpet conversation soon began circulating on social media, along with another awkward arrival moment.
As the Netanyahus strode along holding hands, as they often do, Trump, walking alongside them, reached out to grasp the First Lady’s hand, but video circulated on Twitter appeared to show Melania Trump briefly flicking his hand away.
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Former White House National Security Adviser Michael Flynn will decline to comply with a subpoena from the Senate Intelligence Committee investigating possible Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. election.
According to media reports on Monday, Flynn will invoke his Fifth Amendment protection against self-incrimination, the Associated Press, Wall Street Journal and Fox News reported, citing sources close to Flynn.
The retired lieutenant general, a key witness in the Russia probe, planned to inform the panel of his decision later on Monday, the reports said.
The Senate Intelligence Committee is conducting one of the main congressional probes of alleged Russian meddling in the U.S. presidential election and whether there was any collusion between President Donald Trump’s campaign and Russia.
The committee first requested documents from Flynn in an April 28 letter, but he declined to cooperate with the request.
The U.S. intelligence community concluded in January that Moscow tried to sway the November vote in Trump’s favor. Russia has denied involvement and Trump insists he won fair and square.
Flynn was forced to resign in February, after less than a month on the job, for failing to disclose the content of his talks with Sergei Kislyak, Russia’s ambassador to the United States, and then misleading Vice President Mike Pence about the conversations.
Reuters reported on Thursday that Flynn and other advisers to Trump’s campaign were in contact with Russian officials and others with Kremlin ties in at least 18 calls and emails during the last seven months of the U.S. presidential race.
Flynn has acknowledged being a paid consultant to the Turkish government during the campaign.
NAN reports that acting Attorney-General Sally Yates was reported to have warned the Trump White House in late January that Flynn had not been truthful about his contacts with Russia related to sanctions and that he was vulnerable to blackmail by Russian intelligence.
Flynn’s 24-day tenure as National Security Advisor was the shortest in the 63-year history of the office.
On March 30, The Wall Street Journal reported that Flynn had offered to testify to the FBI or the Senate and House Intelligence committees relating to the Russia probe in exchange for immunity from criminal prosecution.
However, NBC News reported that the Senate Intelligence Committee rejected Flynn’s offer for immunity in exchange for testimony.
On April 27, the Pentagon inspector general announced an investigation into whether Flynn accepted money from foreign governments without the required approval.
On May 8, 2017, Yates testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on Crime and Terrorism.
Yates said the FBI interviewed Flynn, then the National Security Advisor, on Jan. 24, 2017.
Based on the results of that interview, she made an “urgent” request to meet with White House Counsel Don McGahn.
She met with him on Jan. 26 and again on Jan. 27, where she informed McGahn that Flynn was “compromised” and possibly open to blackmail by the Russians.
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U.S. President Donald Trump said on Monday that he had new reasons to hope for peace and stability to the Middle East after his visit to Saudi Arabia.
In a stopover lasting 28 hours, Trump is to meet separately with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
“During my travels in recent days, I have found new reasons for hope,” Trump said in a brief speech on arrival.
“We have before us a rare opportunity to bring security and stability and peace to this region and its people, defeating terrorism and creating a future of harmony, prosperity and peace, but we can only get there working together.
“There is no other way,” he said.
Later on Monday, he will pray at Judaism’s Western Wall and visit the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem, and on Tuesday he will travel to Bethlehem.
Netanyahu and his wife Sara, as well as President Reuven Rivlin and members of the Israeli cabinet, were at Tel Aviv’s Ben-Gurion airport to greet Trump and first lady Melania in a red carpet ceremony after what is believed to have been the first direct flight from Riyadh to Israel.
Trump’s tour comes in the shadow of difficulties at home, where he is struggling to contain a scandal after firing James Comey as FBI director nearly two weeks ago.
The trip ends on Saturday after visits to the Vatican, Brussels and Sicily.
Netanyahu said Israel shared Trump’s commitment to peace, but he also repeated his right-wing government’s political and security demands of the Palestinians, including recognition of Israel as a Jewish state.
“May your first trip to our region prove to be a historic milestone on the path towards reconciliation and peace,” Netanyahu said.
U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson told reporters en route to Tel Aviv that any three-way meeting between Trump, Netanyahu and Abbas was for “a later date”.
Trump has vowed to do whatever is necessary to broker peace between Israel and the Palestinians, something he has called “the ultimate deal”, but has given little indication of how he could revive negotiations that collapsed in 2014.
When he met Abbas this month in Washington, he stopped shortly of explicitly recommitting his administration to a two-state solution to the decades-old conflict, a long-standing foundation of U.S. policy.
He has since spoken in support of Palestinian “self-determination”.
Trump has also opted against an immediate move of the U.S. Embassy in Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, a longtime demand of Israel.
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U.S. President Donald Trump arrived in Israel on Monday, attempting to revive the stalled Israeli-Palestinian peace process with visits to Jerusalem and the West Bank.
Over two days, Trump is to meet separately with both Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and visit holy sites. On Monday in Jerusalem, he will pray at the Western Wall and visit the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.
Netanyahu and his wife Sara, as well as Israeli President Reuven Rivlin and members of the Israeli cabinet, were at Tel Aviv’s Ben-Gurion airport to greet Trump and First Lady Melania in a red carpet ceremony after a direct flight from Riyadh.
On his maiden foreign tour since taking office in January, Trump is already showing signs of fatigue from a packed schedule.
He is on a nine-day trip through the Middle East and Europe that ends on Saturday after visits to the Vatican, Brussels and Sicily.
During a speech in Riyadh on Sunday in which he urged Arab and Islamic leaders to do their share to defeat Islamist militants, Trump referred to “Islamic extremism,” although advance excerpts had him saying “Islamist extremism.”
A White House official blamed Trump’s fatigue for the switch. “Just an exhausted guy,” she told reporters.
On Sunday night in Riyadh after a long day of events, many of them delayed, he skipped a “tweeps” forum for young people that was to be his last activity of the day, sending daughter Ivanka in his place.
Over the weekend, Trump received a warm welcome from Arab leaders, who focused on his desire to crack down on Iran’s influence in the region, a commitment they found wanting in the Republican president’s Democratic predecessor, Barack Obama.
The reception marked a contrast from his difficulties at home where he is struggling to contain a mushrooming scandal after his firing of former FBI Director James Comey nearly two weeks ago.
Trump has vowed to do whatever is necessary to broker peace between Israel and the Palestinians, but has given little sign of how he could revive long-stalled negotiations.
When he met Abbas earlier this month in Washington, he stopped shortly of explicitly recommitting his administration to a two-state solution to the decades-old conflict, a long-standing foundation of U.S. policy.
Some Palestinians said they were disappointed by the omission.
Trump has also opted against an immediate move of the U.S. Embassy in Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, a longtime demand of Israel.
A senior administration official told Reuters last week that Trump remained committed to his campaign pledge to ultimately relocate the embassy but did not plan to announce such a move while on his trip.
“We’re having very good discussions with all parties and as long as we see that happening, then we don’t intend to do anything that we think could upset those discussions,” the official said.
On Sunday, Israel authorized some economic concessions to the Palestinians that a Cabinet statement said “will ease daily civilian life in the Palestinian Authority after (Trump) who arrives tomorrow, asked to see some confidence building steps.”
Trump used his visit to Riyadh to bolster U.S. ties with Arab and Islamic nations, announce $110 billion in U.S. arms sales to Saudi Arabia, and send Iran a tough message.
In his speech attended by dozens of Arab and Islamic leaders, he toned down the harsh anti-Muslim rhetoric he had employed during the presidential campaign last year in favor of trying to gain cooperation against Islamist militants.
“A better future is only possible if your nations drive out the terrorists and drive out the extremists. Drive them out,” Trump said.
Trump will have visited significant homes of three major religions by his trip’s end, Islam, Judaism and Christianity, a point that his senior aides say is important in bolstering his argument that the Islamist militancy is a battle between “good and evil.”
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U.S. President Donald Trump arrived in Israel on Monday, attempting to revive the stalled Israeli-Palestinian peace process with visits to Jerusalem and the West Bank.
Over two days, Trump is to meet separately with both Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and visit holy sites. On Monday in Jerusalem, he will pray at the Western Wall and visit the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.
Netanyahu and his wife Sara, as well as Israeli President Reuven Rivlin and members of the Israeli cabinet, were at Tel Aviv’s Ben-Gurion airport to greet Trump and First Lady Melania in a red carpet ceremony after a direct flight from Riyadh.
On his maiden foreign tour since taking office in January, Trump is already showing signs of fatigue from a packed schedule.
He is on a nine-day trip through the Middle East and Europe that ends on Saturday after visits to the Vatican, Brussels and Sicily.
During a speech in Riyadh on Sunday in which he urged Arab and Islamic leaders to do their share to defeat Islamist militants, Trump referred to “Islamic extremism,” although advance excerpts had him saying “Islamist extremism.”
A White House official blamed Trump’s fatigue for the switch. “Just an exhausted guy,” she told reporters.
On Sunday night in Riyadh after a long day of events, many of them delayed, he skipped a “tweeps” forum for young people that was to be his last activity of the day, sending daughter Ivanka in his place.
Over the weekend, Trump received a warm welcome from Arab leaders, who focused on his desire to crack down on Iran’s influence in the region, a commitment they found wanting in the Republican president’s Democratic predecessor, Barack Obama.
The reception marked a contrast from his difficulties at home where he is struggling to contain a mushrooming scandal after his firing of former FBI Director James Comey nearly two weeks ago.
Trump has vowed to do whatever is necessary to broker peace between Israel and the Palestinians, but has given little sign of how he could revive long-stalled negotiations.
When he met Abbas earlier this month in Washington, he stopped shortly of explicitly recommitting his administration to a two-state solution to the decades-old conflict, a long-standing foundation of U.S. policy.
Some Palestinians said they were disappointed by the omission.
Trump has also opted against an immediate move of the U.S. Embassy in Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, a longtime demand of Israel.
A senior administration official told Reuters last week that Trump remained committed to his campaign pledge to ultimately relocate the embassy but did not plan to announce such a move while on his trip.
“We’re having very good discussions with all parties and as long as we see that happening, then we don’t intend to do anything that we think could upset those discussions,” the official said.
On Sunday, Israel authorized some economic concessions to the Palestinians that a Cabinet statement said “will ease daily civilian life in the Palestinian Authority after (Trump) who arrives tomorrow, asked to see some confidence building steps.”
Trump used his visit to Riyadh to bolster U.S. ties with Arab and Islamic nations, announce $110 billion in U.S. arms sales to Saudi Arabia, and send Iran a tough message.
In his speech attended by dozens of Arab and Islamic leaders, he toned down the harsh anti-Muslim rhetoric he had employed during the presidential campaign last year in favor of trying to gain cooperation against Islamist militants.
“A better future is only possible if your nations drive out the terrorists and drive out the extremists. Drive them out,” Trump said.
Trump will have visited significant homes of three major religions by his trip’s end, Islam, Judaism and Christianity, a point that his senior aides say is important in bolstering his argument that the Islamist militancy is a battle between “good and evil.”
SH
President Donald Trump on Thursday called the appointment of a special counsel to lead the Russia probe as “the single greatest witch hunt” in U.S. history, hours after he said he looked forward to a thorough investigation.
In the face of rising pressure from Capitol Hill, the U.S. Justice Department named former FBI Director Robert Mueller on Wednesday as special counsel to investigate alleged Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. election and possible collusion between Trump’s campaign and Moscow.
Trump said in a statement that “a thorough investigation will confirm what we already know, there was no collusion between my campaign and any foreign entity.”
In a pair of Twitter posts on Thursday morning, Trump made clear he was unhappy with the latest development to roil his administration.
“With all of the illegal acts that took place in the Clinton campaign and Obama Administration, there was never a special counsel appointed!” Trump wrote, misspelling the word counsel as he referred to former President Barack Obama and former presidential candidate Hillary Clinton.
“This is the single greatest witch hunt of a politician in American history!”
The comments mirrored a speech by Trump on Wednesday, before Mueller’s appointment was announced, in which he said no politician in history “has been treated worse or more unfairly.”
Russia has denied U.S. intelligence agencies’ conclusion that it interfered in the election campaign to try to tilt the vote in Trump’s favor. Trump, a Republican, has long bristled at the notion that Russia played any role in his November election victory, and has denied any collusion between his campaign and Moscow.
The appointment of a special counsel to take over the Russia probe was widely praised by Democrats and Trump’s fellow Republicans.
Republican Representative Charlie Dent said there was no question the Russians meddled in the election.
The goal of the special counsel probe, he said, was to determine whether there was collusion between Trump associates and Russia to do so.
“I believe that’s why we’re having this investigation, to find out if in fact there was collusion.
“I certainly hope there wasn’t any but if there is there are going to be very serious consequences,” Dent told CNN.
Moments before Trump weighed in on Twitter, Democratic Senator Joe Manchin welcomed the special counsel investigation and said it was important to get facts in the Russia probe.
“I am not on a witch hunt. I am on a fact-finding mission,” he said on CNN.
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Michael Flynn and other advisers to Donald Trump’s campaign were in contact with Russian officials and others with Kremlin ties in at least 18 calls and emails, current and former U.S. officials familiar with the exchanges told Reuters.
The sources said the 18 calls and emails, took place in the last seven months of the 2016 presidential race.
The previously undisclosed interactions form part of the record now being reviewed by FBI and congressional investigators probing Russian interference in the U.S. presidential election and contacts between Trump’s campaign and Russia.
The sources said six of the previously undisclosed contacts described to Reuters were phone calls between Kislyak and Trump advisers, including Flynn, Trump’s first national security adviser, three current and former.
Conversations between Flynn and Kislyak accelerated after the Nov. 8 vote.
The two discussed establishing a back channel for communication between Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin that could bypass the U.S. national security bureaucracy, which both sides considered hostile to improved relations, four current U.S. officials said.
In January, the Trump White House initially denied any contacts with Russian officials during the 2016 campaign. The White House and advisers to the campaign have since confirmed four meetings between Kislyak and Trump advisers during that time.
The people who described the contacts to Reuters said they had seen no evidence of wrongdoing or collusion between the campaign and Russia in the communications reviewed so far.
The disclosure could increase the pressure on Trump and his aides to provide the FBI and Congress with a full account of interactions with Russian officials and others with links to the Kremlin during and immediately after the 2016 election.
The White House did not respond to requests for comment.
Flynn’s lawyer declined to comment.
In Moscow, a Russian foreign ministry official declined to comment on the contacts and referred Reuters to the Trump administration.
Separately, a spokesman for the Russian embassy in Washington said: “We do not comment on our daily contacts with the local interlocutors.”
Sources said the 18 calls and electronic messages took place between April and November 2016 as hackers engaged in what U.S. intelligence concluded in January was part of a Kremlin campaign to discredit the vote and influence the outcome of the election in favour of Trump over his Democratic challenger, former secretary of state Hillary Clinton.
Those discussions focused on mending U.S.-Russian economic relations strained by sanctions imposed on Moscow, cooperating in fighting Islamic State in Syria and containing a more assertive China, the sources said.
Sources said members of the Senate and House intelligence committees have gone to the CIA and the National Security Agency to review transcripts and other documents related to contacts between Trump campaign advisers, associates, Russian officials and others with links to Putin.
The U.S. Justice Department said on Wednesday it had appointed former FBI Director Robert Mueller as special counsel to investigate alleged Russian meddling in the U.S. presidential campaign and possible collusion between Trump’s campaign and Russia.
Mueller will now take charge of the FBI investigation that began last July.
Trump and his aides have repeatedly denied any collusion with Russia.
In addition to the six phone calls involving Kislyak, the communications described to Reuters involved another 12 calls, emails or text messages between Russian officials or people considered to be close to Putin and Trump campaign advisers.
According to one person with detailed knowledge of the exchange and two others familiar with the issue, one of those contacts was by Viktor Medvedchuk, a Ukrainian oligarch and politician.
Sources said it was not clear with whom Medvedchuk was in contact within the Trump campaign but the themes included U.S.-Russia cooperation.
Putin is godfather to Medvedchuk’s daughter.
Medvedchuk denied having any contact with anyone in the Trump campaign.
“I am not acquainted with any of Donald Trump’s close associates, therefore no such conversation could have taken place,” he said in an email to Reuters.
The sources said in the conversations during the campaign, Russian officials emphasised a pragmatic, business-style approach and stressed to Trump associates that they could make deals by focusing on common economic and other interests and leaving contentious issues aside.
Beyond Medvedchuk and Kislyak, the identities of the other Putin-linked participants in the contacts remain classified and the names of Trump advisers other than Flynn have been “masked” in intelligence reports on the contacts because of legal protections on their privacy as American citizens.
However, officials can request that they be revealed for intelligence purposes.
U.S. and allied intelligence and law enforcement agencies routinely monitor communications and movements of Russian officials.
After Vice President Mike Pence and others had denied in January that Trump campaign representatives had any contact with Russian officials, the White House later confirmed that Kislyak had met twice with then-Senator Jeff Sessions.
Sessions later became attorney-general.
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