Ex-MI6 boss says Russia file has ‘credibility’
BRITAIN: A dossier of embarrassing allegations about Donald Trump produced by a onetime British spy ‘‘probably’’ has ‘‘some credibility’’, the former head of MI6 has said.
Ex-MI6 agent Christopher Steele compiled the dossier, in which he claimed Russia held compromising information on the United States president which left him vulnerable to blackmail.
Trump denounced the document as ‘‘fake news’’, and its veracity has widely been questioned. But Sir Richard Dearlove, who ran MI6 from 1999 until 2004, told the BBC’s Newsnight: ‘‘I think that there is probably some credibility to the content. I wouldn’t put it any more forcefully than that.’’
The file made lurid allegations and also claimed that the Trump campaign team had multiple contacts with Russian officials during the presidential election race.
The president has repeatedly denied any collusion with Russia.
His former national security adviser, Michael Flynn, has since pleaded guilty to lying to investigators during an FBI probe into potential links with Moscow. The investigation was criticised by Republican figures, including Trump, who described it as a ‘‘witch hunt’’.
Leaked text messages revealed yesterday that FBI staff working on the agency’s investigation called the president a ‘‘loathsome human’’ and an ‘‘idiot’’ during the election race.
Peter Strzok was removed from the investigation after messages between himself and Lisa Page, an FBI lawyer, were discovered. In one exchange in March 2016, Page refers to Trump as a ‘‘loathsome human’’ with Strzok responding, ‘‘Yet he may win’’, later saying: ‘‘America will get what the voting public deserves.’’
In another exchange, in October 2016, Strzok writes to Page: ‘‘I am riled up. Trump is an [expletive] idiot, is unable to provide a coherent answer ... What the f... happened to our country?’’ – Telegraph Group