White House Comments on Possibility of Probe Into Alleged Trump Team-Russia Ties

The US government is likely not investigating alleged ties between President Donald Trump’s campaign team and Russian officials, a White House official told reporters on Friday.

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — When asked if there was an investigation going on of any sort regarding possible links between Trump’s presidential campaign and Russia, the official said that it is unlikely, but he couldn’t say for sure, according to a press pool report.

The comment came as the administration pushed back against media reports that suggested the FBI was investigating an alleged link between the Trump campaign and Russia.

On Thursday, CNN reported that the White House had urged the FBI to publicly dispute recent reports that Trump campaign staff had maintained regular contact with Russian intelligence officials.

According to the media outlet, FBI Director James Comey refused the request because the alleged communications were part of an ongoing investigation.

But the White House official said Friday that Comey told White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus that the reports were wrong but he could not release a statement.

Earlier Friday, Trump blasted the FBI in a series of tweets, claiming the agency was unable to stop leaks of sensitive national security information to the press.