According to a report from CNN, U.S. intelligence officials have confirmed parts of a dossier leaked by a former British spy which alleges collusion between the Russian government and officials of President Trump’s 2016 campaign.
The CNN report says investigators have confirmed that some of the conversations recounted in the dossier occurred on the same days and from the same locations mentioned, giving investigators “greater confidence” in its credibility.
From CNN:
None of the newly learned information relates to the salacious allegations in the dossier. Rather it relates to conversations between foreign nationals. The dossier details about a dozen conversations between senior Russian officials and other Russian individuals. Sources would not confirm which specific conversations were intercepted or the content of those discussions due to the classified nature of US intelligence collection programs.
But the intercepts do confirm that some of the conversations described in the dossier took place between the same individuals on the same days and from the same locations as detailed in the dossier, according to the officials. CNN has not confirmed whether any content relates to then-candidate Trump.
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US intelligence officials emphasize the conversations were solely between foreign nationals, including those in or tied to the Russian government, intercepted during routine intelligence gathering.
Some of the individuals involved in the intercepted communications were known to the US intelligence community as “heavily involved” in collecting information damaging to Hillary Clinton and helpful to Donald Trump, two of the officials tell CNN.
Responding to the developments, White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer said it’s just more “fake news” coming from CNN.
“We continue to be disgusted by CNN’s fake news reporting,” Spicer said, later adding that it’s “about time CNN focused on the success the President has had bringing back jobs, protecting the nation, and strengthening relationships with Japan and other nations.”
The Friday report marks the first time U.S. intelligence officials have publicly corroborated certain elements of the dossier.
Intelligence officials clarified that they still don’t have any direct confirmation that the Russian government has any compromising information on Trump.
Trump slammed the entire dossier last month during his only news conference as President-elect, saying, “It’s all fake news. It’s phony stuff. It didn’t happen.”
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