Donald Trump's campaign sought to distance him from his former campaign chief Paul Manafort on Monday night following reports that the FBI is looking into the ex-aide's foreign business ties.
"Mr. Trump severed ties with Mr. Manafort many months ago. Mr. Trump has no knowledge of any of his past or present activities," campaign spokeswoman Hope Hicks said in an email.
NBC News reported Monday that federal investigators had begun a preliminary inquiry into Manafort's ties to Russian interests.
Manafort, who left the campaign in August, told NBC that he was aware of no FBI investigation and denied he had ties to Russian leader Vladimir Putin or other pro-Russian interests.
The report comes one day after Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid alleged that FBI Director James B. Comey was concealing known connections between the Trump campaign and the Russian government. He accused Comey of a double standard by publicly revealing new lines of inquiry into the investigation of Hillary Clinton's private email server.
The Clinton campaign followed suit Monday, calling Comey's actions "nothing short of jaw-dropping."
