A senior aide to President Donald Trump emailed campaign officials concerning a potential meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin last summer, it was reported Wednesday.
Deputy-chief of staff Rick Dearborn communicated with campaign officials about a person who could possibly connect the President with Putin, according to CNN.
Congressional investigators say they unearthed the previously unreported email sent in June 2016 about the effort, the same month that Donald Trump Jr. set up a meeting with Jared Kushner, the President’s son-in-law and top aide, and former campaign chairmen Paul Manafort and a Russian lawyer at Trump Tower.
President Donald Trump’s Deputy Chief of Staff Rick Dearborn emailed campaign officials concerning a potential meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin last summer
Congressional investigators say they underneathed the previously unreported email sent in June 2016 about the effort
The person, identified only as WV, is possibly a reference to the state of West Virginia, one source with knowledge of the email told the broadcaster.
An unidentified source told CNN that it’s unclear who the individual is, what they were seeking or whether Dearborn even acted on the request, noting that the deputy appeared skeptical of the requested meeting.
While many of the details concerning the email remain unclear, the existence of the communication suggests that Russian entities may have been scouting other entry points into the Trump campaign.
Dearborn’s name hasn’t surfaced much as special prosecutor Robert Mueller investigation into potential Russian interference in the 2016 presidential campaign continues.
Former FBI Director Robert Mueller is leading a special investigation into whether Russia interfered in the 2016 presidential election
But questions pertaining to Dearborn’s involvement in setting up a meeting between then Senator Jeff Sessions and Russian Ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak are starting to surface.
Dearborn served as the former chief-of-staff to Sessions and was a top policy aide on the campaign.
The White House declined to comment on the matter while Dearborn did not return repeated requests for clarification by CNN.
Steve Hall, a retired CIA chief of Russia operations, told the news outlet that the behavior fits a pattern of covert measures the Russian government has perfected over the years.
‘The Russians are really experts at this,’ said Hall.
Hall noted, however, that it would highly unusual for Putin to meet Trump before meeting with operatives tied to the Kremlin.