NYT: Trump aides had 'repeated contacts' with Russian intelligence
Citing four current and former officials, the Times reported that phone records and intercepted calls showed Trump campaign members and associates in repeated contact with senior Russian intelligence officials during the year before the 2016 election.
The story advanced the narrative that the Trump campaign was coordinating with Russian intelligence.
What was reported
Citing four current and former officials, the Times reported that phone records and intercepted calls showed Trump campaign members and associates in repeated contact with senior Russian intelligence officials during the year before the 2016 election.
What actually happened
In sworn Senate testimony on June 8, 2017, former FBI Director James Comey said the story was in the main not true and that he had warned lawmakers of both parties about it. The Times said it stood by the reporting. In July 2020 the FBI declassified Peter Strzok's contemporaneous annotations of the article, in which the lead Russia investigator wrote that the bureau had seen no evidence of campaign officials in contact with Russian intelligence officers and called the story misleading and inaccurate as written.
The proof
Comey's June 8, 2017 testimony to the Senate Intelligence Committee, and the FBI's line-by-line Strzok annotations of the article released through the Senate Judiciary Committee in July 2020.
The receipt. Copy this and paste it anywhere:
NYT: Trump aides had 'repeated contacts' with Russian intelligence — Debunked. Comey's June 8, 2017 testimony to the Senate Intelligence Committee, and the FBI's line-by-line Strzok annotations of the article released through the Senate Judiciary Committee in July 2020. Full file: https://www.thepropagandafiles.com/case/nyt-trump-aides-repeated-contacts-russian-intelligence/
Original reporting
- NYT report as syndicated by Boston.com (Feb 14, 2017)https://www.boston.com/news/politics/2017/02/14/trump-campaign-aides-had-repeated-contacts-with-russian-intelligence
Corrections, findings & records
- CNN Money: New York Times stands by story James Comey called into questionhttps://money.cnn.com/2017/06/08/media/new-york-times-james-comey/index.html
- National Review (via Yahoo): Declassified Strzok notes debunk 2017 NYT articlehttps://www.yahoo.com/news/declassified-strzok-notes-debunk-2017-210231959.html
- The Hill: Graham releases newly declassified documents on Russia probehttps://digital-release.thehill.com/?p=507901
Archived copies
Stories get edited after publication. These open the Internet Archive's earliest saved copy of each original.
- Archived copy: NYT report as syndicated by Boston.com (Feb 14, 2017)https://web.archive.org/web/2/https://www.boston.com/news/politics/2017/02/14/trump-campaign-aides-had-repeated-contacts-with-russian-intelligence