Posted February 25, 2017 01:31:01

Photo: Reince Priebus' (right) request came as the White House tried to discredit a NYT report, an official said. (Reuters: Carlos Barria)

White House chief of staff Reince Priebus asked a top FBI official to dispute media reports President Donald Trump's campaign advisers were frequently in touch with Russian intelligence agents during the election, a White House official says.

The official said Mr Priebus' request came as the White House sought to discredit a New York Times report about the contacts last week.

As of Thursday (local time), the FBI had not commented publicly on the report and there was no indication it planned to.

The New York Times reported that US agencies had intercepted phone calls last year between Russian intelligence officials and members of Mr Trump's 2016 campaign team.

Mr Priebus' discussion with FBI deputy director Andrew McCabe sparked outrage among some Democrats, who said the chief of staff 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," Michigan representative John Conyers, the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, said.

A 2009 memo from then-attorney-general Eric Holder said the Justice Department was 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.

The White House official would not comment when asked if the administration was concerned about the appropriateness of Mr Priebus' communications with Mr McCabe.

The official was not authorised to disclose the matter publicly and insisted on anonymity.

The FBI would not say whether it had contacted the White House about the veracity of the New York Times report.

Trump denies contacts with Russia during election

Mr Trump has been shadowed by questions about potential ties to Russia since winning the election.

Donald Trump will have to forge a more friendly relationship with the Kremlin without key adviser Michael Flynn, a high-profile fail in an administration that's less than a month old, writes Washington bureau chief Zoe Daniel.

US intelligence agencies have also concluded Russia meddled in the campaign to help Mr Trump defeat Democrat Hillary Clinton.

Last week, Mr Trump 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.

Mr Flynn, who was interviewed by the FBI about his contacts, is said to have talked with the ambassador multiple times during the transition, including a discussion about US sanctions policy.

Still, Mr Trump and his advisers have denied having had contacts with Russian officials during the election.

On Friday night, Mr Trump said on Twitter the FBI was "totally unable to stop the national security 'leakers' that have permeated our Government for a long time".

"They can't even find the leakers within the FBI itself. Classified information is being given to media that could have a devastating effect on us. Find now," he wrote.

Last week, Mr Trump said "nobody that I know of" spoke with Russian intelligence agents during the campaign.

AP

Topics: government-and-politics, federal-government, defence-and-national-security, world-politics, united-states, russian-federation