The New York Times: Trump and his associates have continued with the Russians more than a hundred times

The New York Times reported that US President Donald Trump and at least 17 of his close associates continued with Russian nationals, Wikileaks, or their intermediaries during the 2016 presidential campaign, and during the transition that followed.

The newspaper added that another 10 people told these contacts with Wikileaks and the Russians, without being themselves involved.

The number of such contacts exceeded 100, ranging from personal meetings to phone calls and text messages and electronic.

The information was drawn on an internal investigation by the newspaper, documents submitted to Congress, court records and charges related to the investigation by Special Investigation Team investigator Robert Mueller on the possibility of Russian involvement in the 2016 presidential election.

The list of those involved in contacts with the Russians includes President Donald Trump himself, his brother-in-law, his adviser Jared Kouchner, his former attorney Michael Cohen, his son Donald Trump Jr., Paul Manavort, former campaign manager, former national security adviser Michael Flynn, and other personalities.

The revelation came just days after US House of Representatives intelligence chief Adam Schiff announced that Trump was seeking a deal with hundreds of millions in Russia and was calling for the abolition of billions of dollars in sanctions for Russian President Vladimir Putin.

"Trump was asking Russia to penetrate the e-mail of Hillary Clinton, the Democratic candidate for the 2016 US presidential election. His son was meeting with Russian officials to discredit her. His lawyer said it was not a big deal," Schiff said in a tweet on Twitter.

CNN also revealed last week that the FBI opened - after the dismissal of its former director James Komy in May 2016 - an investigation into the possibility that Trump helped the Russians to destabilize his country.

The last chapters involved Trump close contacts with the Russians, the arrest of US authorities Roger Stone, a former Trump adviser, after he was convicted of seven counts, including the charge of making false statements about leaking WikiLeaks "e-mails of the Democratic Party, and other documents leaked by the Russians as part of the campaign Influence in the 2016 elections ".

Since special investigator Robert Mueller began his investigation into possible Russian involvement in the 2016 election, many people have been indicted, including those close to Trump, who has repeatedly ruled out Russia intervening in the election to help him reach the presidency against his rival Hillary Clinton.