Repeated efforts by Russians to contact Hope Hicks, one of President Trump’s closest advisors, led FBI agents to meet with her in the White House to warn her off, according to a new report.
Hicks, 29, was the recipient of repeated efforts by Russians to contact her during the presidential transition, the New York Times reported.
The efforts set off alarm bells among intelligence and law enforcement officials, following the multi-agency conclusion that Russia interfered in the presidential election.
Once President Trump took office, counterintelligence officials met with Hicks in the secure White House Situation Room ‘at least twice,’ according to the report, to warn her that the Russians who contacted her by email were not who they claimed to be.
White House communications director Hope Hicks, 29, was the recipient of repeated efforts by Russians to contact her during the presidential transition, according to a report
The warning was described as a ‘defensive briefing’ to warn of an possible Russian intelligence operation, and goes well beyond the standard fare given to new government employees.
The report does not say whether Hicks responded to any of the overtures or how the government came to know about the Russian contacts.
It notes that Hicks is not alleged to have done anything improper simply by being the recipient of an outreach attempt.
The Times based its report on two unnamed sources, and was not able to obtain information about the content of the emails.
Hicks joined Trump’s presidential campaign from the Trump Organization, and was a close advisor throughout his campaign.
She is considered a key figure to investigators because of her close contacts with key Trump campaign figures and familiarity with high-level thinking inside the campaign and White House.
Counterintelligence officials met with Hicks in the White House situation room to warn her of the attempted contacts
The Russian outreach occurred during the presidential transition before Donald Trump took office
Special counsel Robert Mueller’s team is probing Russian interference in the presidential election
CNN reported following Donald Trump Jr.’s testimony to the House Intelligence Committee this week state that Trump Jr. testified that he communicated with Hicks while hammering out a statement to the press to describe a June 2016 meeting he attended at Trump Tower with a Kremlin-linked lawyer.
Trump Jr. said he did not communicate directly with his father, who was with Hicks aboard Air Force One at the time. Hicks was communicating with the president about the statement while it got worked out.
The initial statement did not accurately reflect that the meeting was initially set up with the offer of dirt on Hillary Clinton.