Intel Dem: Russia probe may put Trump aides in jail

Rep. Joaquín Castro (D-Texas) said the House’s investigation of Russian election meddling in 2016 may result in jail for some of President Trump’s associates.

“I wouldn’t be surprised after all of this is said and done that some people end up in jail,” he said Tuesday on CNN’s “The Situation Room.”

“My impression is that people will probably be charged, and I think people will probably go to jail,” the House Intelligence Committee member added.

Castro declined to answer whether his prediction includes members of Trump’s administration or the president’s transition team.

When CNN host Wolf Blitzer asked if he saw prosecution as a possibility for more than one person, Castro responded: “That’s my impression, yes."

"If I was betting, I would say yes," he said. “There’s certainly — as all Americans have seen by now — quite a lot of smoke. The investigation is to determine whether there is a fire or not.”

FBI Director James Comey said last week that his bureau is probing Russian intrusions in the 2016 race, including possible collusion between Moscow and Trump campaign officials.

The announcement has brought new scrutiny to former members of Trump’s election bid with possible Russia ties.

Reports emerged Monday that Carter Page, a former Trump campaign adviser, met a Russian intelligence operative three years before the 2016 race.

Page reportedly passed documents to the operative during a 2013 encounter in New York City while working as an energy consultant.

The future Trump aide purportedly met with Victor Podobnyy, a Russian intelligence operative whom the U.S. government later charged with acting as an unregistered agent for a foreign government.

The January 2015 charges were filed against Podobnyy and two others after federal investigators busted a Russian spy ring that was seeking information on U.S. sanctions and alternative energy efforts.

Federal authorities ultimately probed Podobnyy, Igor Sporyshev and Evgeny Buryakov for their alleged connections with the suspected Russian spy ring, according to a court filing about the trio’s charges.

Other Trump associates have been put in the spotlight over connections to Russia, including former campaign chairman Paul Manafort and former national security adviser Michael Flynn.