Direct contact between the FBI and White House is unusual during an unresolved investigation.
Several US officials told CNN that a White House request to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to publicly denounce media reports about communications between Donald Trump's associates and Russians, known to US intelligence during the 2016 presidential election, was rejected.
The request, according to a White House official, was made after the FBI indicated it did not believe the reports on the subject to be accurate.
News of the contacts were first published on February 14 by The New York Times and CNN. Direct contact between the FBI and White House is unusual because of a "decade-old restrictions on such contacts". The request by the White House is a violation of procedures that limit communications with the bureau on unconcluded investigations, CNN reported.
Discussions between the bureau and White House, a US law enforcement official in the CNN report said, began when FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe and White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus spoke during a separate White House meeting after the stories broke. The White House disputed what occurred in the meeting and said that the NYT story exaggerated the FBI's knowledge about the contacts.
CNN also reveals Priebus later reached out again to McCabe and FBI Director James Comey, requesting the FBI to talk to reporters on the background to dispute the stories.
Because the investigation on communication between Trump associates and Russians is ongoing, Comey rejected the request to have the FBI comment on the matter.
In an interview with Fox News Sunday, Preibus said: "The New York Times put out an article with no direct sources that said that the Trump campaign had constant contacts with Russian spies, basically, you know, some treasonous type of accusations. We have now all kinds of people looking into this. I can assure you and I have been approved to say this -- that the top levels of the intelligence community have assured me that that story is not only inaccurate, but it's grossly overstated and it was wrong. And there's nothing to it."
Preibus reiterated this in an interview with Fox and Friends.
Still, the Trump administration's efforts to press Comey is in contradiction to the US Justice Department procedure memos issued in 2007 and 2009, CNN reported, which limits communications between White House and the FBI during unresolved investigations. The memo states the communication is only permitted when it is vital for the president's duties and appropriate from the perspective of law enforcement.
A spokesman for the US Department of Justice revealed Attorney General Jeff Session is reviewing the memos and the department is following the rules on the communication guidelines with the White House.
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
 "Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Donald Trump, Russia, US Presidential Election 2016, Trump administration, Jeff Session,")
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}