Newly leaked dossier on Trump circulated in DC for months
In October, Mother Jones magazine described how a former Western spy — assigned to look into Trump's Russian ties for a private American firm — had presented his findings to the FBI in August.
Shortly after reports were published late Tuesday about the dossier, Trump tweeted: "FAKE NEWS - A TOTAL POLITICAL WITCH HUNT!" The president-elect said at a combative news conference Wednesday that the allegations were "phony stuff" leaked by "sick people."
Director of National Intelligence James Clapper said in a statement later that he had spoken with Trump Wednesday evening and told him the intelligence community "has not made any judgment that the information in this document is reliable."
The dossier contains unproven information about close coordination between Trump's inner circle and Russians about hacking into Democratic accounts as well as unproven claims about unusual sexual activities by Trump among other suggestions attributed to anonymous sources.
The summary of the dossier allegations was appended to a classified assessment of Russia's suspected attempts to meddle in the U.S. presidential election.