Don’s aides linked to Putin spies

Two of Donald Trump’s closest former aides have ties to a firm that tried to help the Russian government spy on its own people, sources told The Post.

Former Trump campaign Chairman Paul Manafort and ex-“core’’ aide Rick Gates have financial links to EyeLock, which lobbied Russian leader Vladimir Putin’s government in a bid to expand the country’s domestic spying program, sources said.

The Russians wanted to hide “iris-reading’’ technology throughout Moscow’s subways to scan riders’ eyes and ferret out those on “watch lists,’’ sources said. Just one scanner could have secretly read and collected biometric data from as many as 50 people per minute.

The company didn’t win the contract. But its ties to Trump and Putin through the two men raises troubling questions over potential conflicts of interest, critics say.

“This is quite an unusual business relationship for senior presidential campaign staff members to have with a foreign government,” a former White House official told The Post. “It raises a lot of questions about national security and what should have been publicly disclosed to get a better handle on ties between the Trump campaign and the Russian government.”

Gates has said he only helped EyeLock procure US government contracts. Manafort didn’t return requests for comment, and EyeLock denied that he ever had any direct involvement with the company.

Trump’s campaign said it was unaware of Manafort and Gates’ ties to EyeLock.