Donald Trump’s team has been accused of possible “treason” as new allegations emerge of repeated contact with Russian intelligence officials during the US election campaign.
The President’s representatives have repeatedly denied any untoward contact with the Kremlin but fresh claims have emerged in the wake of a separate scandal that sparked the national security adviser's resignation.
The New York Times reported that American law enforcement and intelligence agencies found “repeated contacts” between Mr Trump’s campaign staff and associates and senior Russian intelligence operatives in the year leading up to the election.
The communications were reportedly intercepted at the same time evidence of Russian involvement in the Democratic National Committee (DNC) hack was discovered, although officials said they found no evidence of the Trump team “colluding” with Russia on efforts to influence the result.
Seth Moulton, a former US Marine and Democratic member of the House of Representatives, said the unconfirmed allegations could amount to “treason”.
“Russia is the number enemy of the US,” he told CNN. “If members of the administration are essentially conspiring with Russia - either through the campaign earlier or now in the administration itself…that’s the very definition of treason.”
The claims emerged as senior Republicans called for an independent investigation into Michael Flynn's links with Russia, following his resignation as national security adviser.
Senate Republican whip John Cornyn called for a probe, while John McCain, Chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said Mr Flynn's resignation was a “troubling indication of the dysfunction of the current national security apparatus” and raised questions over Mr Trump's stance.
Paul Manafort denied the allegations,which have not been confirmed(Getty)
Other Republicans argued that as both the Senate and House intelligence committees are already examining alleged Russian interference in the election, there was no need for a separate probe.
Law enforcement officials did not say to what extent alleged contacts between Mr Trump's team and Russian intelligence may have been about business, the New York Times reported, and did not disclose details of what was discussed or how many people were involved.
Several of Mr Trump’s associates were implicated but the report named only one – Paul Manafort – what chaired the President’s election campaign for several months last year.
He previously worked as a political consultant for the former Ukrainian President, Viktor Yanukovych, before and after he fled to Russia during anti-government protests that preceded the country’s civil war.
Mr Manafort dismissed the latest claims as “absurd”, saying he had “never knowingly spoken to Russian intelligence officers” or been involved with the country’s government.
Sean Spicer, the White House spokesman, repeated denials of improper contact between Trump aides and Russia at a press briefing before the New York Times report emerged on Tuesday.
He described phone calls with the Russian ambassador that caused the resignation of Mr Flynn as an “isolated incident”, where he gave “incomplete information” to the Vice President over whether sanctions were discussed.
Asked whether the Trump administration was undertaking efforts to examine contacts with Russia, Mr Spicer said there was “no new information”.
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