US renews calls for security expert in UK to testify on Russia

A LONDON-BASED security consultant is facing renewed calls from Washington to give evidence to an investigation into Russian meddling in US politics.

The US Senate Intelligence Committee, which is conducting a wide-ranging investigation into allegations of Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election, has written to Walter Soriano, a 52-year-old former Israeli intelligence officer.

US investigators wrote to Mr Soriano in April last year requesting he go to Washington to answer questions about his alleged ties with a number of individuals who are being investigated.

These include Oleg Deripaska, a Russian oligarch, as well as Christopher Steele and Christopher Burrows, the two former MI6 officers who produced the “dossier” on Donald Trump’s alleged ties with Russia. Mr Deripaska has denied any wrongdoing.

In an interview with The Sunday Telegraph last month, Mr Soriano, 52, insisted that he had never received the letter, and claimed that he was the victim of a witch hunt by “hidden forces”.

But a senior US congressional official said lawyers acting for Mr Soriano contacted the committee directly to discuss the letter’s contents within days of it being sent.

The committee remains keen to interview Mr Soriano prior to publication of its report, which is due to be published later this year.

Mr Soriano insists he has not had any dealings with Mr Deripaska since 2010.

A spokesman for Mr Soriano confirmed his lawyers had contacted the committee following media reports that he had been invited to attend a closed-door interview “for clarification as to the facts”.