Carlo Allegri/Reuters
Two former aides to Donald Trump have been tied to EyeLock, a firm that lobbied for the Russian government’s bid to expand its domestic-spying program, the New York Post reported. The paper cited anonymous sources saying former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort and former aide Rick Gates had financial ties to the firm, which fought to win a contract for iris-scanning machines to be placed in Moscow’s subway stations. Although the company lost the bid, Manafort and Gates’s close ties to a firm that sought to help Russian President Vladimir Putin spy on his own people has raised questions about national security. Manafort is already under scrutiny for his role in helping to bring Kremlin-backed Viktor Yanukovych to power in Ukraine before he was ousted amid riots in 2014. Manafort was reportedly an early investor for EyeLock, and Gates an independent contractor. One source told the Post that Manafort used to own 10 percent of the company after investing about $1 million in 2006, though his stake fell to less than 1 percent last year.