Report suggests FBI has travel, business, and phone records that could tie Trump's campaign to Russia

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March 23, 2017 3:22 PM

An FBI official claims to have information suggesting collaboration between Trump's associates and Russian intelligence officials during the 2016 election.

An FBI official claims to have information that suggests collaboration between President Donald Trump's associates and Russian intelligence officials during the 2016 election, CNN reported Wednesday night.

The anonymous law enforcement official told the news outlet that FBI evidence shows "people connected to the campaign were in contact and it appeared they were giving the thumbs up to release information" in order to promote Trump and erode trust in Hillary Clinton's campaign.

Still, other agents said that the evidence in question was almost all circumstantial, which means that it cannot be used to make any conclusive suppositions.

FBI Director James Comey confirmed before Congress on Monday that the agency was investigating the Trump campaign's ties to Russia. This investigation includes reviewing travel, business, and phone, and in-person meeting records between Trump's inner circle and Russian intelligence officials, according to CNN.

US lawmakers or the intelligence community hadn't previously acknowledged having concrete evidence tying Trump or his associates to collusion with the Kremlin.

Rep. Adam Schiff, the California Democrat who is a ranking member of the House Intelligence Committee, which is also investigating the Trump-Russia connection, echoed the CNN report in an interview on MSNBC on Wednesday.

"There is more than circumstantial evidence now," Schiff said, declining to get into specifics. "I will say there is evidence that is not circumstantial, and it is very much worthy of investigation."

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