Nigel Farage in alleged secret chats with Wikileaks founder Assange

Nigel Farage is alleged to have had a series of secret meetings with Wikileaks founder Julian Assange.

The former Ukip leader is said to have passed a “thumb drive” containing data to Mr Assange during one of their sessions at the Ecuadorian Embassy in London.

The claims have been made by the co-founder of the investigative firm behind the controversial “Trump dossier” into the US president’s alleged links with Russia before he entered the White House. They have been dismissed by Mr Farage as “conspiratorial nonsense”.

According to a transcript of his testimony released by the House Intelligence Committee, Fusion GPS boss Glenn Simpson claimed Wikileaks was part of a “somewhat unacknowledged relationship” between the Trump team and the “Ukip people”.

He said Mr Farage became “someone that we were very interested in” after the EU referendum vote in June 2016.