AFP, Washington :
Russian operatives tried to infiltrate Donald Trump’s presidential campaign through his advisers, including foreign policy aide Carter Page, CNN reported on Saturday.
CNN said this emerged through FBI intelligence gathering, which triggered an investigation into any possible coordination between Trump campaign operatives and Russian officials.
US officials told the news network that it was unclear whether Page, who is being scrutinised as part of a wider probe over Russian efforts to influence the 2016 elections, was aware that Moscow was trying to use him.
A Russian agent namely would likely have concealed his or her true role or identity while speaking with Page, who himself has vigorously denied any possible collusion with Moscow.
Page gave a speech critical of US policy towards Russia at a top Moscow university last year that caught the FBI’s attention and raised concerns that he was maintaining contact with Russian operatives and was being influenced by them.
But Page is just one of several Trump advisers that US and European intelligence revealed had been in touch with Russian officials and other Russian agents frequently and extensively enough to raise suspicions, according to CNN.
Federal prosecutors say that Page met in 2013 with Victor Podobnyy, who turned out to be a Russian operative living in New York. The FBI thus had Page on its radar for at least four years.
Meanwhile, one of the reasons the U.S. Congress has launched an investigation into Russia’s alleged meddling in the 2016 U.S. election is to “prevent the same kind of thing happening” to its NATO and other allies, U.S. House Speaker Paul Ryan said Saturday.
Ryan spoke at a news conference with Estonian Prime Minister Juri Ratas in Tallinn, the Estonian capital, during a visit by a bipartisan congressional delegation to the Baltic NATO member and staunch Washington ally.
While the Republican speaker claimed that Russia’s alleged meddling didn’t affect the outcome of the election – won by U.S. President Donald Trump – he said its actions “cannot be tolerated.”
“One thing we know for certain is that Russia meddled in our election,” Ryan said. “This is a foreign country trying to meddle within the internal activities of a sovereign country or a democracy.”
He stressed the U.S has a responsibility to share the results of the Russia investigation with countries like Estonia, which in recent years has faced aggressive Russian disinformation campaigns along with Baltic neighbors Latvia and Lithuania.
“What we’re doing through our investigation process is to figure out exactly what is it they did and how they did it so that we can help, equip and assist our allies to prevent the same kind of thing happening to them,” Ryan said.
Russian operatives tried to infiltrate Donald Trump’s presidential campaign through his advisers, including foreign policy aide Carter Page, CNN reported on Saturday.
CNN said this emerged through FBI intelligence gathering, which triggered an investigation into any possible coordination between Trump campaign operatives and Russian officials.
US officials told the news network that it was unclear whether Page, who is being scrutinised as part of a wider probe over Russian efforts to influence the 2016 elections, was aware that Moscow was trying to use him.
A Russian agent namely would likely have concealed his or her true role or identity while speaking with Page, who himself has vigorously denied any possible collusion with Moscow.
Page gave a speech critical of US policy towards Russia at a top Moscow university last year that caught the FBI’s attention and raised concerns that he was maintaining contact with Russian operatives and was being influenced by them.
But Page is just one of several Trump advisers that US and European intelligence revealed had been in touch with Russian officials and other Russian agents frequently and extensively enough to raise suspicions, according to CNN.
Federal prosecutors say that Page met in 2013 with Victor Podobnyy, who turned out to be a Russian operative living in New York. The FBI thus had Page on its radar for at least four years.
Meanwhile, one of the reasons the U.S. Congress has launched an investigation into Russia’s alleged meddling in the 2016 U.S. election is to “prevent the same kind of thing happening” to its NATO and other allies, U.S. House Speaker Paul Ryan said Saturday.
Ryan spoke at a news conference with Estonian Prime Minister Juri Ratas in Tallinn, the Estonian capital, during a visit by a bipartisan congressional delegation to the Baltic NATO member and staunch Washington ally.
While the Republican speaker claimed that Russia’s alleged meddling didn’t affect the outcome of the election – won by U.S. President Donald Trump – he said its actions “cannot be tolerated.”
“One thing we know for certain is that Russia meddled in our election,” Ryan said. “This is a foreign country trying to meddle within the internal activities of a sovereign country or a democracy.”
He stressed the U.S has a responsibility to share the results of the Russia investigation with countries like Estonia, which in recent years has faced aggressive Russian disinformation campaigns along with Baltic neighbors Latvia and Lithuania.
“What we’re doing through our investigation process is to figure out exactly what is it they did and how they did it so that we can help, equip and assist our allies to prevent the same kind of thing happening to them,” Ryan said.
