2016 ELECTION/ROBERT MUELLER/RUSSIA/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT/TRUMP PEOPLE: “A top Trump campaign official had repeated communications during the final weeks of the 2016 presidential race with a business associate tied to Russian intelligence, according to a document released on Tuesday 3-27-18] by the special counsel investigating Russian interference in the election. The campaign official, Rick Gates, had frequent phone calls in September and October 2016 with a person the F.B.I. believes had active links to Russian spy services at the time, the document said. Mr. Gates also told an associate the person ‘was a former Russian Intelligence Officer with the G.R.U.,’ the Russian military intelligence agency. The special counsel, Robert S. Mueller III, is investigating numerous contacts between President Trump’s advisers and Russians leading up to and after the November 2016 election. The document, filed in Mr. Mueller’s name, stated that the communications between Mr. Gates and the individual were ‘pertinent to the investigation.'”
–Mark Mazzetti, “Trump Aide Spoke During Campaign to Associate Tied to Russian Intelligence,” The New York Times online, Mar. 28, 2018