LARRY DOWNING/ REUTERS
Special counsel Robert Mueller has obtained access to the phone and computer of Erik Prince, a longtime Trump ally and Blackwater founder who was previously accused of setting up backchannel talks between President Donald Trump and the Kremlin. Last week, Prince told The Daily Beast that he “cooperated” with the investigation, and ABC News reports Monday that the private military contractor has given Mueller “total access to his phone and computer” as the special counsel evaluates the backchannel allegations and Prince’s ties to Russian businesses. Prince has “vehemently denied” the allegations. Two of Prince’s former colleagues told ABC News that they, too, had been contacted by investigators, in relation to alleged deals between Russian nationals and Prince’s Hong Kong-based Frontier Services Group. “I’m heartened to hear that the special counsel is doing what Republicans on the committee were not willing to do,” one Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee told ABC, “and follow up and not take Mr. Prince at his word.”