UPDATE: Former Department of Defense Special Counsel Ryan Goodman points out Hicks said something similar to the Associated Press on November 11, 2016.
Earlier, Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov was quoted as telling the Interfax news agency that “there were contacts” with influential people in Trump’s circle. “I don’t say that all of them, but a whole array of them supported contacts with Russian representatives.”
Trump spokeswoman Hope Hicks denied such contacts.
“It never happened,” she said. “There was no communication between the campaign and any foreign entity during the campaign.”
Russia eyes better ties with Trump; says contacts underway (AP)
CNN's Jim Acosta reports investigators for Special Counsel Robert Mueller and both the Senate and House Intelligence Committees are interested in something Hope Hicks told The New York Times on November 10, 2016.
Mueller's team asking about this comment Hicks made to NYT two days after 2016 election: "We are not aware of any campaign representatives that were in touch with any foreign entities before yesterday, when Mr. Trump spoke with many world leaders,” https://t.co/FbpVWm4lG3
— Jim Acosta (@Acosta) March 1, 2018
Hicks gave the statement in question in response to reports that Sergei Ryabkov, Russia's deputy foreign minister, said the Russian government was in contact with Trump's inner circle throughout the 2016 campaign.
NYT:
A Trump spokeswoman, Hope Hicks, said Thursday that there had been no meeting between campaign staff members and Russian government officials during the campaign.
“We are not aware of any campaign representatives that were in touch with any foreign entities before yesterday, when Mr. Trump spoke with many world leaders,” Ms. Hicks, said. “Those discussions were congratulatory and forward looking.”
Hicks' past credibility is in question after she told the House Intelligence Committee Tuesday she sometimes lies for the president.
However, she did add – after consulting with her lawyers in the room – that she has not lied about anything pertaining to the Russia investigation.
Russian Officials Were in Contact With Trump Allies, Diplomat Says (NYT)