Story highlights "We have no idea what Trump's businesses, associations, loans are in greater Russia," he said

"We need to know all of your holdings," he said

The Axe Files, featuring David Axelrod, is a podcast distributed by CNN and produced at the University of Chicago Institute of Politics. The author works for the podcast.

Washington (CNN) If legendary journalist Carl Bernstein could impart one message to the investigative reporters covering President Donald Trump, it would be: Follow the money.

"What we really need to look at right now are the conflicts of interest," Bernstein told David Axelrod on "The Axe Files," a podcast from the University of Chicago Institute of Politics and CNN, remarking on the opacity of Trump's vast international business holdings.

One place to begin digging, Bernstein proposes, is around Trump's attempted dealings in Russia and the surrounding region. Additional scrutiny should be given there, he argues, in light of Trump's welcoming gestures to President Vladimir Putin and his timidity to support the US intelligence community's assessment that the Russians interfered with the US presidential election.

"We have no idea what Trump's businesses, associations, loans are in greater Russia," he said. "This is a big job for investigative reporting. It's a big job for Republicans in Congress, especially because it's going to come back to bite them."

Bernstein, a Pulitzer Prize winner, is also a contributing editor with CNN¹s new Investigative Unit.

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