he already had concerns that Trump’s business connections could be exploited by Russia, and Simes said that he did not want CNI to have any involvement or 1180 apparent involvement in facilitating any connection. In an email dated December 22, 2016, Burt recounted for Aven his conversation with Simes: Through a trusted third party, I have reached out to the very influential person I mentioned in Luxembourg concerning Project A. There is an interest and an understanding for the need to establish such a channel. But the individual emphasized that at this moment, with so much intense interest in the Congress and the media over the question of cyber-hacking (and who ordered what), Project A was too explosive to discuss. The individual agreed to discuss it again after the New Year. I trust the individual’s instincts on this. 1181 If this is unclear or you would like to discuss, don’t hesitate to call. According to Burt, the “very influential person” referenced in his email was Simes, and the reference to a “trusted third party” was a fabrication, as no such third party existed. “Project A” was a term that Bmt created for Aven’s effort to help establish a communications channel between Russia and the Trump team, which he used in light of the sensitivities surrounding what Aven was requesting, especially in light of the recent attention to Russia’s influence in the U.S. 1182 presidential election. According to Burt, his report that there was “interest” in a communications channel reflected Simes’s views, not necessarily those of the Transition Team, and in any event, Burt acknowledged that he added some “hype” to that sentence to make it sound like there was more interest from the 1183 Transition Team than may have actually existed. Aven replied to Burt’s email on the same day, saying “Thank you. All 1184 clear.” According to Aven, this statement indicated that he did not want the 1185 outreach to continue. Burt spoke to Aven some time thereafter about his attempt to make contact with the Trump team, explaining to Aven that the current environment made it impossible, Grand Jury█ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ 1186 █. Burt did not recall discussing Aven’s request with Simes again, nor did 1187 he recall speaking to anyone else about the request.