Intelligence chiefs briefed Trump that Russia sought to compromise him: report

Top intelligence officials last week presented a two-page synopsis to Donald Trump that includes allegations of Russian operatives claiming to have compromising personal and financial information on the president-elect, according to a report by CNN.

{mosads}The classified briefings were presented to both President Obama and Trump by FBI Director James Comey, CIA Director John Brennan, NSA Director Admiral Mike Rogers and Director of National Intelligence James Clapper. CNN could not confirm if the two-page document was verbally discussed by intelligence chiefs during the briefings.

According to the report, the chairmen of the House and Senate intelligence committees and the top four Congressional leaders also received the classified summaries of the presented memos.

The document was presented as an appendix to the intelligence community’s report on the alleged Russian interference in the presidential election.

According to the report, the allegations included in the briefing were not a product of the U.S. intelligence agencies but came from memos that originated as opposition research, first commissioned by anti-Trump Republicans, and later by Democrats.

CNN did not state what was included in the memos, as it reported it was unable to corroborate their claims. It did say that the contents of the memos are circulating among U.S. intelligence officials and lawmakers with jurisdiction over the community. 

The memos were compiled by a former MI6 British intelligence operative whose past work has been considered reliable by the intelligence community.

The former MI6 operative was posted in Russia in the 1990s and is now running a private intelligence gathering firm. CNN noted that his investigation regarding Trump was first funded by donors who backed Trump’s GOP opponents during the Republican primary. The investigation was later also funded by donors who supported the Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton.

The two-page document also noted allegations that there was an exchange of information between Trump surrogates and intermediaries for the Russian government during the campaign, two national security officials told CNN.