Downer linked to probe

Trump insider told of email cache at boozy meeting

FORMER foreign minister Alexander Downer has been sensationally caught in the middle of an FBI investigation into alleged collusion between Russia and Donald Trump’s presidential campaign.

On a boozy night out last year, Mr Downer — who is Australia’s High Commissioner in London — was reportedly told by a Trump aide that Russia had political dirt on rival candidate Hillary Clinton.

An explosive New York Times report claimed Australian officials later passed details of the drunken meeting to the FBI, kicking off the counter-intelligence investigation that has dogged Mr Trump’s presidency.

The revelations are another extraordinary twist in Australia’s relationship with Mr Trump, whose first phone call with Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull descended into a heated argument later revealed in a leaked transcript.

Mr Downer reportedly met Trump campaign foreign policy adviser George Papadopoulos at the Kensington Wine Rooms in London after they were connected through other diplomats, including an Israeli official.

Mr Papadopoulos had been told about three weeks earlier that Russia had thousands of apparently stolen emails that could be used to up-end Ms Clinton’s presidential bid.

He shared this information with Mr Downer at the upscale bar.

The New York Times reported that it was unclear whether the high-profile former politician “was fishing for that information that night”.

Australian officials reportedly shared details of the meeting with their American counterparts about two months later, when WikiLeaks released some of the stolen Clinton email trove online.

Mr Downer could not be contacted yesterday.

His stint in London is due to end soon, with former Attorney-General George Brandis leaving Parliament to replace him.

Australia’s embassy in Washington refused to com- ment, as did Mr Trump’s White House lawyer.

Mr Papadopoulos has pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI and is now a co-operating witness in the ongoing investigation.

Mr Trump’s allies have tried to play down Mr Papadopoulos’s role in the campaign, but the New York Times also reported that he was trusted enough to edit the maverick presidential candidate’s first major foreign policy speech.

He then flagged the speech with his Russian contacts who were pleased Mr Trump was open to improving relations with the US’s traditional enemy.