The Trump Organisation has a secret server registered to Trump Tower that has been covertly communicating with a Russian bank, a media report said, in the latest allegation of questionable links between Donald Trump and Russia just a week ahead of the presidential polls.
A report in Slate said a server registered to the Trump Organisation was found to have been in contact with Alfa Bank, the largest private commercial bank in Russia.
Activity on the server indicated “a sustained relationship between a server registered to the Trump Organisation and two servers registered to an entity called Alfa Bank,” it said.
Mr Trump was “secretly communicating” with this Russian bank, claimed the report, which was denied by his campaign. Slate said it spoke to one scientist, referred to as “Tea Leaves” for anonymity, and two of his collaborators.
It alleged that the server was set up to communicate privately with the bank. The server was shut down after a reporter asked about it.
Hillary Clinton, Mr Trump’s Democratic presidential rival, in a tweet demanded that “it’s time for Mr Trump to answer questions about his ties with Russia”. “To be clear, The Trump Organisation is not sending or receiving any communications from this email server. The Trump Organisation has no communication or relationship with this entity or any Russian entity,” it said.
Hillary for America senior policy adviser Jake Sullivan said this could be the most direct link yet between Mr Trump and Moscow. “This line of communication may help explain Trump’s bizarre adoration of (Russian President) Vladimir Putin and endorsement of so many pro-Kremlin positions throughout this campaign,” he alleged. “It raises even more troubling questions.”
