F.B.I. officials warned one of President Trump’s top advisers, Hope Hicks, earlier this year about repeated attempts by Russian operatives to make contact with her during the presidential transition, according to people familiar with the events.
The Russian outreach efforts show that, even after American intelligence agencies publicly accused Moscow of trying to influence the outcome of last year’s presidential election, Russian operatives were undaunted in their efforts to establish contacts with Mr. Trump’s advisers.
After he took office, senior F.B.I. counterintelligence agents met with Ms. Hicks in the White House Situation Room at least twice, gave her the names of the Russians who had contacted her, and said that they were not who they claimed to be. The F.B.I. was concerned that the emails to Ms. Hicks may have been part of a Russian intelligence operation, and they urged Ms. Hicks to be cautious.
The meetings with Ms. Hicks, what the F.B.I. calls a “defensive briefing,” went beyond the standard security advice that senior White House officials routinely receive upon taking office. Defensive briefings are intended to warn government officials about specific concerns or risks. A lawyer for Ms. Hicks declined to comment.
The contents of the emails to Ms. Hicks are unclear, as are the identities of the Russians who sent them. The people who described the briefing and the emails spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to openly discuss intelligence matters. The F.B.I. declined to comment.
Now some are suggesting that this indicates that the Russians were having trouble gaining access to Trump's inner circle.
However since they had already made contact with George Papadopoulos, Michael Flynn, Paul Manafort, and even Donald Trump Jr., it actually appears they had worked their way up the food chain to the one person who had interactions with Trump on a daily basis.
If they wanted Trump to get their message, then getting the opportunity to whisper sweet nothings into the ear of his Girl Friday was essentially hitting the jackpot.
The article says that there is no evidence that Hicks did anything wrong, but it also does not say whether she ever responded to the emails or forwarded them to her boss or others.
Well whatever the case, Robert Mueller was sure keen to talk to her:
On Thursday and Friday, investigators working for Robert S. Mueller III, the special counsel, interviewed Ms. Hicks as part of his investigation into Russia’s efforts to influence the 2016 election and whether any of Mr. Trump’s advisers assisted the Russian campaign. It is not clear whether the Russian efforts to contact Ms. Hicks were discussed during that interview.
I have said it before but it bears repeating, Hope Hicks is likely the one person that the Mueller team should pay special attention to as I am convinced that she knows WAY more than most of Trump's associates.
Source http://ift.tt/2yb0isV
