WASHINGTON – Members of President Donald Trump's campaign and transition team had more than 100 contacts with Russian-linked officials, according to an analysis by the Center for American Progress think tank and its Moscow Project.

CAP, a liberal think tank, used publicly available court documents and reporting to tally up the number of contacts with Russian-linked officials, which includes those with close ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin and others tied to Russian intelligence, banks and politicians.

The organizations counted each meeting and message as a separate contact.

The number of contacts was raised to 101 this week, according to CAP, after it was reported that Trump's former campaign chairman Paul Manafort and Rick Gates, a former campaign aide, shared polling data with Manafort's former Russian business partner Konstantin Kilimnik.

Contacts between Trump's 2016 campaign and Russians are under scrutiny in special counsel Robert Mueller's two-year investigation into Moscow's interference in the presidential election.

Both the White House and a lawyer for the president did not immediately respond to a request for comment from USA TODAY about this report. Trump has repeatedly denied allegations of colluding with the Kremlin and dubbed the special counsel investigation a “witch hunt.”

Start the day smarter:Get USA TODAY's Daily Briefing in your inbox every morning.

Those within Trump's team who had contacts with Russian-linked officials include Trump's former attorney Michael Cohen, former Trump adviser Roger Stone, the president's son, Donald Trump Jr., former Attorney General Jeff Sessions, former Trump campaign adviser Carter Page, Trump's former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn, former White House communications director Anthony Scaramucci, and Trump's daughter, Ivanka Trump.

"This wasn't just one email or call, or one this or that," said Talia Dessel, a research analyst for the left-leaning organization.

Dessel said the group omitted many contacts that were seen as "intermediaries" between the members of Trump's team and Russian-linked officials. She said that the number of contacts they discovered was likely “conservative,” noting the number could be much higher.

Russia's role in the 2016 election and ties between the president and the Kremlin are all but certain to remain constant themes of 2019 with a new Democratic-led House that now has subpoena and investigative powers.