© Kevin Lamarque / Reuters
President Barack Obama's spokesman has accused President-elect Donald Trump and top members of his team of "lucrative" ties with Russia, pointing out that his national security adviser was a "paid contributor" on RT.

White House press secretary Josh Earnest made the case against Trump at the daily briefing on Monday, connecting the dots from "malicious Russian cyber activity" to top campaign officials and their past.

"It was the president-elect who refused to disclose his financial connections to Russia," said Earnest. "It was the president-elect who hired a campaign chairman with extensive, lucrative, personal financial ties to Russia. It was the president-elect who had national security advisor on the campaign that had been a paid contributor to RT, the Russian propaganda outlet."

Earnest implied that as the Republican presidential nominee Trump "benefitted" from cyberattacks on his main rival while "his campaign did not make any effort to obscure this."

While the White House spokesman did not name any names, it was clear which officials close to the president-elect he was referring to. The "campaign chairman" with ties to Russia meant Paul Manafort, once linked to Ukraine's former government.

Manafort made headlines that past August, when Ukraine's current government accused him of having pocketed more than $12 million as a lobbyist and consultant for the "pro-Russian regime." He worked for a company founded by Tony Podesta - brother of John Podesta, Bill Clinton's former chief of staff and campaign chairman for Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton.

The second person Earnest brought up is retired Lieutenant-General Michael Flynn, former head of the Defense Intelligence Agency and currently Trump's pick for the post of national security adviser.