Explosive new evidence suggests that the Obama administration’s efforts to pin a Russian collusion narrative on President Donald Trump began as early as January of 2016, if not earlier.

Around that time officials with the National Security Council, the FBI, the Department of Justice and the State Department met with various Ukrainian authorities in Washington, D.C. to discuss certain anti-corruption efforts, according to renowned investigative reporter John F. Solomon.

During that meeting, U.S. authorities reportedly expressed interest in reviving a closed investigation into payments that were allegedly made years earlier to certain U.S. figures by the Party of Regions, the corrupt party of scandal-plagued former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych.

“That 2014 investigation was led by the FBI and focused heavily on GOP lobbyist Paul Manafort, whose firm long had been tied to Trump through his partner and Trump pal, Roger Stone,” Solomon notes.

“Agents interviewed Manafort in 2014 about whether he received undeclared payments from the party of ousted Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych, an ally of Russia’s Vladimir Putin, and whether he engaged in improper foreign lobbying. The FBI shut down the case without charging Manafort.”

Did Obama White House push Ukraine to find dirt on Manafort? New evidence suggests yes. Will be talking to @seanhannity on @FoxNews about this shortly. https://t.co/v1AMUnrax2 — John Solomon (@jsolomonReports) April 25, 2019

Yet for some reason the U.S. officials present at the January 2016 meeting asked the Ukrainian authorities for help locating new evidence for this case, according to Solomon’s source, Andrii Telizhenko, a former Ukrainian government official who in early 2016 had been working at the Ukrainian Embassy in Washington, D.C., and was reportedly tasked with setting up the meeting.

Because of this odd discrepancy during the meeting, which occurred two months before Manafort joined Trump’s campaign, Telizhenko suspects the request was one of the precursors to special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian collusion and Manafort’s eventual indictment.

“It was definitely the case that led to the charges against Manafort and the leak to U.S. media during the 2016 election,” he said to Solomon.

If true, this would make the meeting “one of the earliest documented efforts to build the now-debunked Trump-Russia collusion narrative and one of the first to involve the Obama administration’s intervention,” according to Solomon.

To be clear, the NSC, DOJ and FBI have all declined to comment on this allegation. So has former Obama era National Security Adviser Susan Rice.

However, Ukraine’s chief anti-corruption prosecutor, Nazar Kholodnytskyy, has confirmed with Solomon that following the meeting, which he reportedly attended, his nation’s government began seemingly meddling in the then-ongoing U.S. presidential election.

“Kholodnytskyy said the key evidence against Manafort — a ledger showing payments from the Party of Regions — was known to Ukrainian authorities since 2014 but was suddenly released in May 2016 by the U.S.-friendly [National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine], after Manafort was named Trump’s campaign chairman,” Solomon reported.

“Somebody kept this black ledger secret for two years and then showed it to the public and the U.S. media. It was extremely suspicious,” Kholodnytskyy said.

Moreover, NABU reportedly released the ledger without his permission.

Nazar Kholodnytskyy, Ukraine’s anti-corruption chief said info known since 2014 w suddenly released May 2016 by t U.S.friendly NABU, after Manafort became Trump’s campaign chairman: “Somebody kept this black ledger secret for 2 years & then showed it t the public & U.S. media” https://t.co/mnDhAA34vI — JoAnne (@JoAnne57607522) April 26, 2019

“I ordered the detectives to give nothing to the mass media considering this case,” he said. “Instead, they had broken my order and published themselves these one or two pages of this black ledger regarding Paul Manafort. For me it was the first call that something was going wrong and that there is some external influence in this case. And there is some other interests in this case not in the interest of the investigation and a fair trial.”

Kostiantyn Kulyk, an official with the Prosecutor General of Ukraine’s office, has confirmed some of this, telling Solomon that after the January 2016 meeting, a message emerged that the American officials needed help of some sort — and then suddenly the ledger appeared out of nowhere.

“Yes, there was a lot of talking about needing help and then the ledger just appeared in public,” he said.

What’s odd is that the U.S. officials were only interested in dirt on Manafort. They showed no interest in former Obama White House counsel Gregory Craig, who’d reportedly also accepted payments from Yanukovych’s party, despite the Ukrainians reportedly having evidence on him as well.

“They just discussed Manafort. This was all and only what they wanted. Nobody else,” Kulyk said.

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Craig was eventually finally indicted in April of 2019, albeit only for lying to federal prosecutors about his past work. Meanwhile, Manafort has been charged (and in some cases convicted) with everything from tax fraud to conspiracy to defraud the United States.

Here’s the kicker, via Solomon: “A Ukrainian court in December concluded NABU’s release of the ledger was an illegal attempt to influence the U.S. election. And a member of Ukraine’s parliament has released a recording of a NABU official saying the agency released the ledger to help Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton’s campaign.”

Or more specifically, it “released the ledger to help Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton’s campaign” after then-President Barack Hussein Obama’s officials seemingly begged its members to.

Yet stunningly, none of this information has been noted by the mainstream media, including Fox News.

Dear @FoxNews Why can’t I find ANYTHING about the story “Publication of Manafort payments violated law, INTERFERED IN US ELECTION, Kyiv court rules” on your site? Tell your viewers and @POTUS and @DonaldJTrumpJr why you’re burying this?https://t.co/cQiZXvA2LR — ??? ????????? ⏳ (@stranahan) February 8, 2019

HERE’S WHAT YOU’RE MISSING …