FBI agents have interviewed a top aide to President Donald Trump’s campaign in an investigation into his ties to the Haqqanis, a group of Afghan insurgents who are considered terrorists by the United States.
The New York Times first reported the FBI was examining the ties of former Trump campaign adviser George Papadopoulos, who pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI in October.
Papadopolous is scheduled to be sentenced in March.
FBI agents interviewed Papadopoulous in February, a person familiar with the matter told the Times.
The investigation is continuing, the person said.
The person spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss an ongoing investigation.
Papdopolous worked as an unpaid adviser for the Trump campaign for about a month, according to his LinkedIn profile.
He had been in frequent contact with a Trump campaign official, the Times reported.
Papadianopoulos, 27, worked as a digital strategist on the campaign and was “a paid employee of the campaign” from June to December, according an email sent to a Trump aide in December, the Associated Press reported.
The AP also reported that Papadolous had been paid by the Trump administration to travel to Europe to meet with foreign officials in the run-up to the presidential election.
He did not respond to messages seeking comment from The Hill.
The Trump campaign has said Papadakis “never met with a foreign government and never participated in any political activity on behalf of the Trump Organization.”
The Times report also said Papadianopolous had made more than $50,000 in contributions to Trump’s presidential campaign between January and December.
In October, Papadoulous told the FBI that he had met with “several people from the Haqani network” at the Trump Tower in New York.
The Haqqans are considered “international terrorists” by the U.S. The Times reported that the Haqs have been involved in multiple attacks, including the December 2014 killing of U.K. Parliamentarian Jo Cox.
The paper also reported on December 23 that the U,S.
had conducted airstrikes against a group that called itself the “United Front for the Liberation of Afghanistan.”
A video from the attack showed a U.N. peacekeeping mission team attacking an insurgent-held compound.
The team, which included an American, was killed.
In the video, the team said it was attacking a “terrorist camp” and that the team was going to kill at least 20 Taliban fighters.
The attack was the first time the Haqi attacked U.A.E. troops since 2010, the paper reported.
U.P. spokesman Hamza Yousuf told the AP in an email that the coalition “had nothing to do with this attack, and it was the coalition’s intention to capture all the fighters in the camp.”
