Trump advisers were in contact with Russian officials during the presidential campaign, but there was no sign of collusion.
FBI and congressional investigators scoured Trump campaign advisers’ communications with anybody with ties to the Russian government between April and November 2016, three current and former U.S. officials said.
They found 18 calls, emails, or texts, six of which were calls between former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn and Russian Ambassador Sergei Kislyak. Names of the other advisers were masked to protect their identity.
But there was no sign of collusion or wrongdoing, the officials told Reuters.
The advisers only discussed improving economic relations, cooperation on fighting ISIS, and containing increasingly assertive China.
It is normal for a presidential campaign to communicate with foreign officials to prepare ground for future relations.
There are several ongoing investigations into potential Russian interference with the elections since it allegedly hacked the Democratic National Committee (DNC) emails.
The emails were released through Wikileaks, which denied that Russians were the source.
The emails showed DNC officials manipulated the Democratic primaries against Senator Bernie Sanders.
U.S. intelligence officials said Russia released the emails to hurt Hillary Clinton—Trump’s opponent.
