WASHINGTON ― U.S. intelligence and law enforcement agencies have confirmed that President Donald Trump’s campaign aides and associates had constant contact with Russian intelligence officials before the election, directly contradicting public statements made by top administration officials. On Jan. 15, shortly before Trump took office, Vice President Mike Pence repeatedly said on television that there were zero contacts between the campaign and Russian officials. “Just to button up one question, did any adviser or anybody in the Trump campaign have any contact with the Russians who were trying to meddle in the election?” CBS “Face the Nation” host John Dickerson asked. When NBC News repeated that question to Trump afterwards as the president-elect approached the elevator to exit the room, he answered “No.”On Tuesday, White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer seemed to stand by those earlier denials. “There’s nothing that would conclude me that anything different has changed with respect to that time period,” Spicer said.

Source: Huffington Post February 15, 2017 04:07 UTC