UnNews:British intel sent Trump-Russia communications to U.S. agencies
Friday, April 14, 2017
RUSHINGTON - UnNews and every major news organization not named Faux News has learned that British intelligence obtained "suspicious" communications between Donald Trump's presidential campaign and the Russian government as early as late 2015. The information was passed on to U.S. intelligence, "as part of a routine exchange of information." The Trump-Russia scandal is being investigated by the House and Senate Intelligence Committees and the James Comey-led FBI.
According to The Guardian, British agencies such as Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) "played a crucial role in alerting their counterparts in Washington" of what was going on between both parties. Over the next six months, the scandal started to heat up, sources say.
| “ | The European countries that passed on electronic intelligence – known as sigint – included Germany, Estonia and Poland. Australia, a member of the “Five Eyes” spying alliance that also includes the US, UK, Canada and New Zealand, also relayed material, one source said. | ” |
— The Guardian, April 13, 2017
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British intel discovered the information incidentally as part of normal surveillance. Eventually, agencies started to pick up a pattern, a web of connections to and fro, and sent them off to U.S. agencies.
Trump has falsely accused former President Barack Obama of wiretapping Trump Tower prior to the election, a claim that has quickly been debunked by CNN, The Washington Post, and Comey during his March 20 testimony to the House Intelligence Committee.
Sean Spicer has likewise falsely accused GCHQ of playing a role in the nonexistent wiretapping. Spicer cited a Faux News report that even Rupert Murdoch's news organization has disavowed any knowledge of.
| “ | [B]oth US and UK intelligence sources acknowledge that GCHQ played an early, prominent role in kickstarting the FBI’s Trump-Russia investigation, which began in late July 2016.
One source called the British eavesdropping agency the “principal whistleblower.” |
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— The Guardian, April 13, 2017
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British intel tried to warn the FBI and the CIA of the ensuing scandal, but according to U.S. law, one cannot examine private communications without a warrant.
Last summer, GCHQ passed material to CIA chief John Brennan, who gave several classified briefings to the "Gang of Eight," warning them that Russia was trying to help Trump win the election. The information was deemed so sensitive that it was handled at a "director level."
Eventually, Comey and the FBI took the matter more seriously, possibly due to a FISA order to investigate two banks suspected of partaking in the scandal. According to The Washington Post, the same FISA order allowed U.S. officials to monitor Trump associate Carter Page, who is suspected of being a Russian spy.
The communications collected by GCHQ are "likely to be scrutinized as part of the Senate Intelligence Committee's investigation," according to CNN.
Sources[edit | edit source]
- Luke Harding, Stephanie Kirchgaessner and Nick Hopkins "British spies were first to spot Trump team's links to Russia" The Guardian, April 13, 2017
- Jim Sciutto, Pamela Brown and Eric Bradner "British intelligence passed Trump associates' communications with Russians on to US counterparts" CNN, April 13, 2017