Obama administration officials rushed to ensure intelligence of Russia's suspected election hacking — and possible connections to Donald Trump's campaign — was preserved after they left office, The New York Times reported.



Citing three anonymous former U.S. officials, the Times said the goal in the final days of the Obama administration was to leave evidence for future investigators and to prevent future meddling in U.S. elections.

The sources told the Times that U.S. allies had provided information of meetings in European cities between Russian officials and associates of Trump. U.S. intelligence agencies also intercepted communications of Russian officials discussing contacts with Trump associates, the Times reported.

On Thursday, embattled Attorney General Jeff Sessions denied to NBC News that he had met with any Russian officials during the course of the presidential election to talk about the campaign. With one Republican House leader calling for him to recuse himself from the Russia investigation, Sessions added: "I have said whenever it's appropriate, I will recuse myself. There's no doubt about that."

Read the full report from The New York Times here.

Editor's note: This story was updated after House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy said he is not calling for Sessions to recuse himself.