The FBI says there is no direct connection between Donald Trump and Russia

Sarah Rice/Getty Images

Donald Trump at a campaign event in Maine.

The FBI says there is no definitive connection between Donald Trump and the Russian government, after a wide-ranging investigation that stemmed from concerns about the Republican presidential candidate's foreign associations.

In a New York Times report published on Monday night, the newspaper cited law-enforcement officials who said, if anything, Russia's alleged interference - by way of cyberattacks against Democratic Party organizations - were "aimed at disrupting the presidential election rather than electing Trump."

Democratic leaders have called on the FBI to investigate Trump for any potentially illicit connections in Russia, a call prompted in part by the real-estate businessman's ostensibly pro-Russia bombast.

In its investigation, the FBI also found no conclusive evidence of secret, deliberate communications between the Trump Organization and a Russian bank that was previously outlined by Slate on Monday.

US intelligence officials in early October formally accused the Russian government of hacking Democratic Party organizations in an attempt to disrupt the election.