But a White House official said late Thursday that the request was only made after the FBI indicated to the White House it did not believe the reporting to be accurate. The direct communications between the White House and the FBI were unusual because of decade-old restrictions on such contacts. Such a request from the White House is a violation of procedures that limit communications with the FBI on pending investigations. Late Thursday night, White House press secretary Sean Spicer objected to CNN's characterization of the White House request to the FBI. But a White House official later corrected their version of events to confirm what the law enforcement official described.

Source: CNN February 23, 2017 23:05 UTC