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Monday, March 18, 2024 | Back issues
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McCain Says He Gave Trump Dossier to FBI

Sen. John McCain confirmed that he was responsible for giving a dossier to the FBI containing allegations of secret communications between President-elect Donald Trump and the Kremlin.

WASHINGTON (CN) – Sen. John McCain confirmed that he was responsible for giving a dossier to the FBI containing allegations of secret communications between President-elect Donald Trump and the Kremlin.

The Republican from Arizona said in a statement that last year he "received sensitive information that has since been made public. Upon examination of the contents, and unable to make a judgment about their accuracy, I delivered the information to the director of the FBI. That has been the extent of my contact with the FBI or any other government agency regarding the issue.”

The dossier, which was originally published by BuzzFeed late Tuesday night, came with caveats that it was "unverified" or "potentially unverifiable." The online news outlet reported that it was compiled by a former British counterintelligence official who now works in the private sector as a consultant.

Its contents include allegations that the President-elect engaged in lewd acts with Russian prostitutes, including asking them to urinate on a bed at a Moscow Ritz-Carlton where President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama once slept.

Trump was in Moscow for a Miss Universe pageant.

The 35-page unverified report is also said to contain a host of unsavory accusations about the President-elect's financial dealings.

Trump took to Twitter to unload on the media Tuesday morning. He is said to have received a short synopsis of the accusations during a briefing on Russian hacking.

"Fake News – a total political witch hunt!" he tweeted Wednesday morning.

During his first press conference in six months, Trump bristled for several minutes over the dossier's contents, calling its author "sick" and that the claims “didn't happen."

"It was gotten hold of by opponents of ours who decided to put that crap out," he told reporters at the conference at Trump Tower in Manhattan.

The report is also said to contain incriminating allegations of shady transactions and favors exchanged between the billionaire businessman and contacts in Russia.

Trump is alleged to have declined real estate deals offered to him in Russia, and that he and members of his inner circle have regularly accepted a flow of intelligence from Russia on his political rivals, including those in the Democratic party.

Though McCain has made no comment about the validity of the report's contents, it set off enough alarms for him to seek out the FBI.

The report is also said to contain information suggesting that Russia had enough dirty laundry on Trump to blackmail him at their leisure and that the lewd act with Russian hookers was recorded on video without his knowledge.

The reports allegedly contain errors including a false description of the Moscow city Barvikha, and the spelling of a Russian bank.

FBI Director James Comey has faced intense scrutiny by members of the Senate Intelligence Committee as recently as Tuesday.

Comey was cagey with senators during his hearing, declining to answer questions about whether or not the FBI was investigating Donald Trump's connections with Russia during the lead-up to the November election.

He was asked directly if he had any evidence that Trump had been in touch with Russian officials, to which he said, "I would never comment on investigations, whether we have one or not, in an open forum like this.”

The statement is in direct conflict with Comey's behavior prior to the election. At the height of campaign season, the director made a series of public announcements on pending investigations into former Secretary of State and then-presidential candidate Hillary Clinton's use of a private email server.

Comey doubled down again just 11 days before the election, making the unorthodox decision to announce that the FBI would continue its investigation into Clinton.

Neither McCain's office or the FBI returned a call for comment.

Categories / Politics

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