WASHINGTON — F.B.I. officials warned one of President Trump’s top advisers, Hope Hicks, earlier this year about repeated attempts by Russian operatives to make contact with her during the presidential transition, according to people familiar with the events.
The Russian outreach efforts show that, even after American intelligence agencies publicly accused Moscow of trying to influence the outcome of last year’s presidential election, Russian operatives were undaunted in their efforts to establish contacts with Mr. Trump’s advisers.
There is no evidence that Ms. Hicks did anything improper. According to former officials, American intelligence and law enforcement agencies became alarmed by introductory emails that Ms. Hicks received from Russian government addresses in the weeks after Mr. Trump’s election.
After he took office, senior F.B.I. counterintelligence agents met with Ms. Hicks in the White House Situation Room at least twice, gave her the names of the Russians who had contacted her, and said that they were not who they claimed to be. The F.B.I. was concerned that the emails to Ms. Hicks may have been part of a Russian intelligence operation, and they urged Ms. Hicks to be cautious.
The meetings with Ms. Hicks, what the F.B.I. calls a “defensive briefing,” went beyond the standard security advice that senior White House officials routinely receive upon taking office. Defensive briefings are intended to warn government officials about specific concerns or risks. A lawyer for Ms. Hicks declined to comment.
The contents of the emails to Ms. Hicks are unclear, as are the identities of the Russians who sent them. The people who described the briefing and the emails spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to openly discuss intelligence matters. The F.B.I. declined to comment.
On Thursday and Friday, investigators working for Robert S. Mueller III, the special counsel, interviewed Ms. Hicks as part of his investigation into Russia’s efforts to influence the 2016 election and whether any of Mr. Trump’s advisers assisted the Russian campaign. It is not clear whether the Russian efforts to contact Ms. Hicks were discussed during that interview.
In early January, American intelligence agencies formally accused Russian intelligence agencies of trying to tip the presidential election toward Mr. Trump, who was reluctant to accept that conclusion. Against that backdrop, senior F.B.I. officials went to the White House in the early days of the Trump administration and warned all senior aides to be cautious about espionage threats, especially from Russia and China.
Then the F.B.I., in coordination with the National Security Council, separately briefed Ms. Hicks and at least one other person close to the president. In a meeting in February, Ms. Hicks was told generally about the Russian intelligence efforts and pressed them for more information. A senior F.B.I. agent met again with Ms. Hicks, and provided her several names of Russians who had contacted her and whom the F.B.I. was concerned about.
Hope Hicks: Seen, but Not Heard
Members of the Trump administration haven't always followed a traditional path. Hope Hicks fits right in, a communications director that hardly communicates publicly.
By CHRIS CIRILLO on Publish Date December 8, 2017.
Photo by Andrew Harnik/Associated Press.
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Ms. Hicks informed Donald F. McGahn II, the White House counsel, about the meetings.
The F.B.I. meetings with Ms. Hicks occurred at the time of a brewing controversy involving Michael T. Flynn, then the national security adviser, and his calls during the transition with the Russian ambassador at the time. Mr. Flynn lied to the F.B.I. about those discussions, and intelligence officials worried that his lies made him susceptible to Russian blackmail.
The Russian emails to Ms. Hicks occurred six months after the F.B.I. had begun investigating possible connections between Mr. Trump’s associates and Russia. American intelligence officials were alarmed about repeated contacts during the campaign between Mr. Trump’s staff and outside advisers and Russians, and feared that Russia was trying to influence the Trump campaign.
In some ways, the Russian outreach to Ms. Hicks undercuts the idea that the Russian government had established deep ties to the Trump campaign before the election. If it had, Russian officials might have found a better entrèe to the White House than unprompted emails to Ms. Hicks.
But after a yearlong campaign in which the Russian government frequently succeeded in making contact with people around Mr. Trump, the overtures to Ms. Hicks also demonstrate that Russian officials seemed intent on gaining access to Mr. Trump’s inner circle by any means they could.
They had already succeeded in connecting with George Papadopoulos, a Trump foreign policy adviser who has since pleaded guilty to lying about his contacts with Russians. Mr. Papadopoulos met with and exchanged numerous emails with Russian intermediaries who Mr. Mueller’s team believes were trying to gain access to the campaign through him.
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