British Spies Were First To Spot Trump Ties To Russia
British intelligence picked up suspicious connections between Trump associates and Russian inteliigence agents in late 2015.
According to a new report, British spy agencies played a crucial role in tipping off U.S. intelligence authorities about Donald Trump’s connections to Russia.
The Guardian reported Thursday that British intelligence officials spotted the odd connections much earlier than originally thought. British intelligence noted suspicious connections between Trump associates and Russian intelligence officials in late 2015. And the intelligence was then passed on to U.S. authorities as part of routine intelligence exchange.
“Over the next six months, until summer 2016, a number of western agencies shared further information on contacts between Trump’s inner circle and Russians, sources said,” according to The Guardian report.
The Guardian also noted that the intelligence was not part of a targeted operation but rather routine intelligence gathering on Russian intelligence assets.
According to The Guardian, “The alleged conversations were picked up by chance as part of routine surveillance of Russian intelligence assets. Over several months, different agencies targeting the same people began to see a pattern of connections that were flagged to intelligence officials in the US.”
The head of British intelligence GCHQ Robert Hannigan passed the information to his U.S. counterpart former CIA Director John Brennan who later set up a series of classified briefings to the “Gang of Eight” as has been previously reported.
