WHITE House chief of staff Reince Priebus asked top FBI officials to dispute media reports that President Trump's campaign advisers were frequently in touch with Russian intelligence agents during the election, according to three White House officials.
The officials said Priebus's February 15 request to FBI director James Comey and deputy director Andrew McCabe came as the White House sought to discredit a New York Times report about contacts between Russian officials and members of President Trump's 2016 campaign team.
The FBI has not commented publicly on the veracity of the report and there is no indication it plans to, despite the White House's request.
White House officials said it was the FBI that first raised concerns about the reporting, but told Priebus the bureau could not weigh in publicly on the matter.
The officials said McCabe and Comey instead gave Priebus the go-ahead to discredit the story publicly, something the FBI has not confirmed.
CNN first reported that Priebus had asked the FBI for help and a White House official confirmed the matter to the Associated Press on Thursday night. On Friday morning, two other senior White House officials summoned reporters to a hastily arranged briefing to expand on the timeline of events.
The officials said Priebus had a previously scheduled meeting with McCabe the morning after the New York Times story was published. Priebus and Comey then spoke later in the day.
The chief of staff's discussions sparked outrage among some Democrats, who said that Priebus was violating policies intended to limit communications between the law enforcement agency and the White House on pending investigations.
"The White House is simply not permitted to pressure the FBI to make public statements about a pending investigation of the president and his advisers," said Michigan representative John Conyers, the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee.
A 2009 memo from then-attorney general Eric Holder said the Justice Department is to advise the White House on pending criminal or civil investigations "only when it is important for the performance of the president's duties and appropriate from a law enforcement perspective".
When communication has to occur, the memo said, it should involve only the highest-level officials from the White House and the Justice Department.
President Trump has been shadowed by questions about potential ties to Russia since winning the election. US intelligence agencies have also concluded that Russia meddled in the campaign to help Trump defeat Democrat Hillary Clinton.
Last week, the president fired national security adviser Michael Flynn because he misled vice president Mike Pence and other White House officials about his contacts with the Russian ambassador to the US.
Still, Trump and his advisers have denied having had contact with Russian officials during the election. Last week, Trump said "nobody that I know of" spoke with Russian intelligence agents during the campaign.
Priebus alluded to his contacts with the FBI over the weekend, saying that "the top levels of the intelligence community" have assured him that the allegations of campaign contact with Russia were "not only grossly overstated, but also wrong".
Senator Ron Wyden said Priebus's comments opened the door for James Comey to discuss the bureau's investigation publicly.
"If the White House chief of staff can make public claims about the supposed conclusions of an FBI investigation, then director Comey can come clean with the American people," Mr Wyden said.
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi called Priebus' reported behavior "an outrageous breach of the FBI's independence".
"The Trump White House has been caught trying to pressure the FBI into undermining a vital national security investigation into the explosive ties between senior Trump officials and Russian intelligence agents, an action which is in violation of Department of Justice rules and which may also be illegal," Pelosi said in a statement.
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