Flashback: Top Trump aide “absolutely” denies campaign contact with Russia
An addendum to the classified intelligence report on Russia’s efforts to interfere in the U.S. election contained unverified details of potentially compromising information that Russia has gathered on President-elect Donald Trump, multiple government and intelligence officials tell CBS News.
The addendum, according to CNN, also claimed that multiple individuals associated with Trump’s presidential campaign were in contact with Russian government intermediaries during the campaign – a charge Trump’s campaign has denied in the past, and one his incoming press secretary, Sean Spicer, again rebutted on Wednesday.
On the December 18, 2016 broadcast of Face the Nation, moderator John Dickerson asked Trump’s former campaign manager and soon-to-be senior advisor Kellyanne Conway, “Did anyone involved…in the Trump campaign have any contact with Russians trying to meddle in the election?”
Conway’s denial was unequivocal.
“Absolutely not,” she said. “Those conversations never happened. I hear people saying it like it’s a fact on television. That is not only inaccurate and false, but it’s dangerous…and it does undermine our democracy.”
For the latest on Russian hacking, the Trump transition, and more, tune into Face the Nation this Sunday. Check your local listings for airtimes.