The FBI and Citibank are reportedly investigating a suspiciously large 2016 payment from the Russian embassy to their ambassador to the US

Cliff Owen/AP

Sergey Kislyak, Russia's ambassador to the US speaks with reporters following his address on the Syrian situation, Friday, Sept. 6, 2013, at the Center for the National Interest in Washington.

• Bank examiners and federal law enforcement are investigating a suspiciously large check deposited to the account of the Russian ambassador to the US, Buzzfeed reported on Wednesday.
• The Russian embassy's $120,000 lump-sum payment made in November 2016 to Ambassador Sergei Kislyak was twice as large as his previous annual salary payments, according to the report.
• Federal investigators have previously probed Kislyak's contacts with at least three Trump campaign officials during the 2016 campaign and presidential transition.

Examiners at Citibank and investigators from the FBI are reportedly probing a suspiciously large December 2016 transaction from the Russian embassy to ambassador Sergei Kislyak, Buzzfeed News reported on Wednesday.

Investigators are apparently examining a check from the Russian embassy marked "payroll" for $120,000, believed to be Kislyak's lump-sum 2016 salary, deposited in November 2016 shortly after President Donald Trump won the presidential election, according to Buzzfeed.

The $120,000 payment is more than two times the amount of Kislyak's annual salary in the previous two years, according to financial documents reviewed by Buzzfeed. The branch manager at the Citi location Kislyak used reportedly said the payment was a salary, a claim Citibank financial examiners were unable to independently verify.

Federal law enforcement, including the special counsel Robert Mueller, has been investigating a larger pattern of suspicious financial transactions made by the Russian embassy, but the unusually large payment to Kislyak carries additional significance given his contacts with Trump campaign officials around that time.

Senior White House adviser and Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner enlisted Kislyak in an effort to set up a secure communications back-channel between the Trump transition team and Russian government using diplomatic resources - which does not appear to have materialized - during the transition in December 2016.

Russian Embassy

President Donald Trump meets with then-Russian Ambassador Sergei Kislyak in the Oval Office on May 10, 2017.

Trump national security adviser Michael Flynn plead guilty last December to charge of lying to investigators about multiple December 2016 conversations with Kislyak. As part of his plea deal, Flynn became a cooperating witness in the Mueller probe.

They also spoke on the phone multiple times in the time period between when the Obama administration announced sanctions on Russia over their interference in the 2016 election and Russia decided against retaliatory measures, a decision Kislyak told Flynn was made "at the Trump team's request," according to Mueller's indictment of Flynn.

In March 2017, Attorney General Jeff Sessions recused himself from overseeing the Mueller probe after failing to disclose a September 2016 meeting with Kislyak during his initial confirmation hearing.

Mueller is investigating Russia's 2016 election meddling, the Trump campaign's possible involvement, and whether Trump has obstructed justice during the course of the probe.

There is no indication thus far that Kislyak's unusually large salary payment had any relation to his contacts with Trump campaign officials.

Kislyak himself did not respond to Buzzfeed's request for comment, and the Russian embassy in the US did not comment on the specific transaction, only stating that it did not violate any laws. Buzzfeed had previously reported on Kislyak's allegedly suspicious payments in January.