Trump briefed on unverified claims Russia has compromising info on him

A classified report delivered to President Obama and President-elect Trump last week included a section summarizing allegations that Russian intelligence services have compromising material and information on Trump’s personal life and finances, U.S. officials said.

The officials said that U.S. intelligence agencies have not corroborated those allegations but thought that the sources involved in the reporting were credible enough to warrant inclusion of their claims in the highly classified report on Russian interference in the presidential campaign.

A senior U.S. official with access to the document said the allegations were presented at least in part to underscore that Russia had embarrassing information on both major candidates but released only the material that might harm Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton – a reflection of Russian motivation that bolstered U.S. spy agencies’ conclusion that Moscow sought to help Trump win.

The inclusion of such unsubstantiated allegations in the election report, a development first reported Tuesday by CNN, adds a disturbing new dimension to concerns about Russian interference in American elections.

And it injects new controversy over the Trump team’s relations with Russia just when the president-elect is trying to consolidate and launch his administration.

If true, the information suggests Moscow has assembled damaging information – known in espionage circles by the Russian term “kompromat” – that conceivably could be used to coerce the next occupant of the White House.

The claims were presented in a two-page summary attached to the full report, an addendum that also included allegations of ongoing contact between members of Trump’s inner circle and representatives of Moscow.

U.S. officials said the claims about Russian possession of compromising material were based not on information through traditional intelligence channels but research done by an outside entity engaged in political consulting work and led by a former high-ranking British intelligence official. The material was first mentioned in a Mother Jones report in October.

U.S. officials said that though the FBI had so far not confirmed the accuracy of the claims, U.S. officials had evaluated the sources relied upon by the private firm, considered them credible and determined that it was plausible that they would have first-hand knowledge of Russia’s alleged dossier on Trump.

The CIA, the FBI and the White House would not comment on the matter. The Trump transition team did not respond to requests for comment. However, not long after reports were published about the briefing, Trump tweeted: “FAKE NEWS – A TOTAL POLITICAL WITCH HUNT!”

Dossiers compiled by a former Western intelligence official have been circulating in Washington for months. Several news organizations, including the Washington Post, have been attempting to confirm the core allegations, without success.

Compiled initially during early 2016 and supplemented during and after the election, the reports include detailed allegations that the Russians hold compromising material about Trump, some of it obtained while Trump visited Moscow in 2013 for the Miss Universe pageant and on a previous visit to Russia.

Other reports compiled by the official allege contacts between Trump personnel and business officials and Russian officials during the campaign. The former intelligence official was at one point paid to explore Trump’s ties to Russia by anti-Trump Republicans and later by supporters of the Democratic Party.

The dossiers attribute the information to sources of the Western intelligence official. However, the allegations that Trump was compromised and that there was contact during the campaign have not been confirmed by the Washington Post. Some pieces have been denied by Trump officials.

“If I was the Clinton campaign, I would be reaching out to these people who put together the dossier, and I’d ask for my money back,” Trump Organization executive vice president Michael Cohen told the Washington Post last week. “It’s wrong. There’s no accuracy. There’s not an ounce of validity to anything that exists in that file.”

The two-page summary was attached to the most highly classified of three separate versions of the report on Russian election interference that were circulated in Washington last week, including an abbreviated declassified draft that was made public.

It was unclear whether the claims in the summary were considered by FBI, CIA and DNI analysts who were responsible for the main body of the report, or whether the information from the outside group had any influence on those analysts’ conclusions.

Rep. Devin Nunes, R-Calif., the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee and a member of the Trump transition team, said that “we can’t comment on what goes on in” classified briefings but added that the idea that Moscow would seek to gather incendiary material on U.S. leaders “should not be a surprise to anyone.”

“The Russians are always looking for dirt on any politician,” Nunes said. “That wouldn’t be news.”

This story was originally published January 10, 2017 at 9:19 PM with the headline "Trump briefed on unverified claims Russia has compromising info on him."