FBI

White House officials had sought the help of the bureau and other agencies investigating the Russia matter to say that the reports were wrong and that there had been no contacts, the officials said. The reports of the contacts were first published by The New York Times and CNN on February 14.

In the court filings, the organisations said that there was "no adequate justification" for the FBI to continue to withhold the information.

They added that they did not seek information that would jeopardise national security.

The groups sued the FBI last year.

Associated Press, Vice Media and Gannett, the parent company of USA Today, are seeking to learn more about the circumstances surrounding the event.

The FBI has never named the security firm or group of hackers who helped unlock the phone, which was used by killer Syed Rizwan Farook.

Mr Trump accused the National Security Agency (NSA) and FBI of giving out information illegally.

Some US media say top Trump aides were in constant communication with Russian officials during the election campaign.

Intelligence officials previously said they believed Russia tried to influence the vote in favour of Mr Trump.

Moscow has dismissed the claim as unsubstantiated.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the latest reports of contacts with Trump aides were "not based on any facts".

FBI director James Comey's decision to reopen an investigation into Hillary Clinton's email server 11 days before the election shook up the race.

The Department of Justice (DoJ) Inspector General Michael Horowitz said he would look into "certain actions" by the FBI and DoJ.

Mrs Clinton was cleared of any wrongdoing days before the US voted.

Her campaign team has blamed the FBI announcement as a key factor why she lost the election to Donald Trump.

The Oscar winner had been accused of mistreating son Maddox, 15, on board a private flight from France to Los Angeles.

Angelina Jolie filed for divorce soon afterwards and is seeking sole custody of their six children.

Social workers investigating the same claim cleared Pitt two weeks ago.

The FBI said: "In response to allegations made following a flight... carrying Mr Brad Pitt and his children, the FBI has conducted a review of the circumstances and will not pursue further investigation.

"No charges have been filed in this matter."

James Comey's announcement of a new inquiry into her use of email while secretary of state shortly before election day had stopped her campaign's momentum, Mrs Clinton said.

The Democratic candidate was speaking to top party donors in a phone call, which was leaked to the media.

Protests are continuing against the victory of her rival, Donald Trump.

In New York, about 2,000 marchers headed for the skyscraper where the president-elect lives, shouting "not my president".

The recently unsealed documents by the American Civil Liberties Union put light on the fact that FBI compromised 23 child porn websites on the Tor hidden services, commonly known as the darknet.

An affidavit, a part of the unsealed documents, hints that the FBI not only compromised the darknet websites but may have operated the same as a part of their investigation.

"Based on our review, we have not changed our conclusions that we expressed in July," Comey wrote in the new letter to congressional committee chairmen.

Comey dropped a bombshell on the presidential race last month when he sent a letter to Congress saying the FBI had discovered emails in a separate investigation that could be connected to the now-closed probe of whether Clinton mishandled classified information. The move infuriated Democrats and emboldened Republican nominee Donald Trump.

Earlier, he had suggested that he was told by FBI agents about the review before it became public.

Giuliani, a top Donald Trump surrogate and adviser, told CNN's Wolf Blitzer on "The Situation Room" Friday that the FBI's announcement "came as a complete surprise, except to the extent that maybe it wasn't as much of a surprise."

Behind the scenes over the past 15 months, infighting among some agents and officials has exposed some parts of the storied bureau to be buffeted by some of the same bitter divisions as the rest of American society.

This account is based on interviews with more than a dozen officials close to the matter who spoke anonymously because they've been ordered not to speak to the news media.