Molly Too And the latest weather: There is a strong chance of golden showers forecast for the DC area and later for the NY metro region.
Former British ambassador to Russia alerted U.S. intelligence agencies to dossier on Donald Trump: report
U.S. intelligence warned Trump about Russian 'perverted sexual acts' blackmail, report says
NY Daily News
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Chris Sommerfeldt
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Updated: Friday, January 13, 2017, 6:53 AM
A former British ambassador to Russia played a major part in alerting U.S. intelligence agencies to the existence of
an unverified dossier alleging that President-elect Donald Trump engaged in “perverted sex acts” at a ritzy Moscow hotel while colluding with the Kremlin, according to a report.
Andrew Wood, who served as Britain’s head of mission in Moscow between 1995 and 2000, told
The Independent that he met Arizona Sen. John McCain at an international security conference in Canada after Trump’s election this past November.
The two spoke at length about a 35-page document that claimed Trump was being blackmailed by Russia over “perverted” sexual activity he engaged in during a visit to Moscow in 2013. The document, which cannot be corroborated by the Daily News, also claimed that Trump's campaign cooperated with the Kremlin in its effort to sway the 2016 presidential election in his favor.
Ex-British ambassador to Russia Andrew Wood said alerted Sen. John McCain to the dossier while at a conference in Canada last year.
(Reuters)
“The issue of Donald Trump and Russia was very much in the news and it was natural to talk about it,” said Wood, who’s highly respected in diplomatic circles. “We spoke about the kind of activities the Russians can be engaged in. We also spoke about how Mr. Trump may find himself in a position where there could be an attempt to blackmail him with ‘kompromat’ and claims that there were audio and video tapes in existence.”
Trump 'dossier' author's allegations backed up by fellow spies
McCain grew so concerned from his conversation with Wood that he requested a private meeting with FBI director James Comey immediately upon returning to the U.S. The Republican senator passed along the information to Comey, who folded it into a report on Russian interference in the 2016 election presented to President Obama and Trump last week.
8 photos view gallery
Donald Trump's road to the White House since Election Day
McCain confirmed in
a statement Wednesday that he alerted the intelligence community to the dossier. Several European media outlets thereafter reported that the longtime senator obtained the document from an unidentified former British ambassador to Russia, who had in turn received the information straight from the author, former MI6 agent Christopher Steele.
But Wood told The Independent that he wasn’t the one to hand the dossier to McCain, claiming he only briefed the senator on its contents, which he asserted “should be investigated.”
Sen. McCain confirmed Wednesday that he alerted the U.S. intelligence community to the damning document.
(CARLOS BARRIA/REUTERS)
“I would like to stress that I did not pass on any dossier to Senator McCain or anyone else and I did not see a dossier at the time,” Wood said. “I do know Christopher Steele and in my view he is very professional and thorough in what he does.”
Obama briefed on Trump claims amid fear leaks would become public
Wood also said he spoke to McCain about hacking campaigns allegedly launched by the Kremlin against Democrats in order to curry favor for Trump.
The damning 35-page document was put together by former MI6 agent Christopher Steele (pictured in 2015).
(Chris Williamson/Getty Images)
“I find it difficult to believe that Donald Trump could not have known something about the hacking,” Wood said. “He had basically asked people to prove it; he has never said this is something which should be investigated. My view is that these are serious matters and that they should be investigated.”
“I don’t think I have done anything wrong at all in what I have done,” he added.
Wood said he didn't hand the dossier to Sen. McCain, but only briefed him on its contents.
(SHAWN THEW/EPA)
Wood’s comments come amid reports about members of multiple spy agencies corroborating the allegations outlined in Steele’s dossier, which was published in full by BuzzFeed.
Clapper calls Trump Russia dossier leak 'extremely corrosive'
BBC Washington correspondent Paul Wood claimed in a first person report Thursday that a British spy told him back in August that the head of an Eastern European intelligence agency was aware of Russian operatives using damaging information on Trump as blackmail.
Trump and his team have vehemently denied the allegations outlined in the dossier.
(Evan Vucci/AP)
Wood said he passed that information along to active duty CIA officers through an intermediary, who confirmed that the agency was aware of several tapes and audio recording that featured Trump and was “of a sexual nature.”
President-elect Trump and his team have vehemently denied the allegations, blasting media organizations reporting on them of peddling “fake news.”
“It’s all fake news. It’s phony stuff. It didn’t happen,” Trump said at
his first press conference since Election Day on Wednesday. “It was gotten by opponents of ours. It was a group of opponents that got together. Sick people and they got together and put that crap together.”
What's in the unverified dossier about Trump's Russia ties?
Steele, the former MI6 agent who penned the dossier, reportedly went into hiding after BuzzFeed published the document, telling British media outlets he is "terrified for his safety."
Mary Workman Balderson Last year? Now, Senator McCain, tell us ehat a "patriot" you are for turning it over NOW.
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Molly Too And the latest weather: There is a strong chance of golden showers forecast for the DC area and later for the NY metro region.
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Byron Bridgeman Why do you think two of his wives are from Eastern Europe.Must be their good eating.
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John Dough The CIA got played by 4chan!
#GoldenShowers Bwhahahaha.
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Kathy Jane Lankford Hopefully they have pics of Huma and Hillary, too.....
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John Smith That alone give more credibility to the story.