https://www.foxnews.com/politics/senate-intel-fbi-steele-dossier-russia-investigation-report
The committee found that former Trump campaign chairman Paul
Manafort’s “presence on the Trump campaign and proximity to
then-candidate Trump created opportunities for Russian intelligence
services to exert influence over, and acquire confidential information
on, the Trump campaign.”
The committee noted that prior to
Manafort joining the Trump campaign in March 2016, Manafort “directly
and indirectly communicated” with Russian national, Konstantin Kilimnik
and other pro-Russian oligarchs in Ukraine.
“On numerous
occasions, Manafort sought to secretly share internal Campaign
information with Kilimnik,” the report stated, while noting that the
committee was “unable to reliably determine why Manafort shared
sensitive internal polling data or Campaign strategy with Kilimnik or
with whom Kilimnik further shared that information.”
“The
Committee obtained some information suggesting Kilimnik may have been
connected to the GRU's hack and leak operation targeting the 2016 U.S.
election,” the report stated.
The committee found that “after the
election, Manafort continued to coordinate with Russian persons,
particularly Kilimnik and other individuals close to Oleg Deripaska, in
an effort to undertake activities on their behalf.”
“Manafort
worked with Kilimnik starting in 2016 on narratives that sought to
undermine evidence that Russia interfered in the 2016 U.S. election,”
the report found.
The committee added: “Taken as a whole,
Manafort's high- level access and willingness to share information with
individuals closely affiliated with the Russian intelligence services,
particularly Kilimnik and associates of Deripaska, represented a grave
counterintelligence threat.”