BBC: East European intelligence service knew in August Russia had Trump-compromising material [View all]

[muriel_volestrangler]

Audio from BBC Radio 4's World At One programme, starting at 24:40:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b087pf3k

Paul Wood, BBC Washington correspondent:
The rumours or the allegations or whatever you want to call them have been circulating for a number of months now. I saw the report, compiled by the former British intelligence officer, back in October. He is not, and this is the crucial thing, the only source for this. I was also told by a man I'll call a member of the US intelligence community back in August that he had been told, by the head of an East European intelligence service, that the Russians had kompromat or compromising material on Mr. Trump.

It's very, very difficult, of course, to talk to US intelligence people. They're breaking the law if they talk to you. But I did ask somebody with connections in the CIA to pass a message to them, and I got a message back that there was allegedly more than one tape, not just video, but audio as well, on more than one date, in more than one place, in both Moscow and St. Petersburg.

Now, having said all that, nobody has seen this tape. We're talking about intelligence here, and nobody should believe something just because an intelligence agent says it, still less an anonymous agent. But it is viewed as credible by the CIA, and that's why it landed on President Obama's desk last week, on the desk of the Congressional leadership, and was given to Mr. Trump as well. And even Congressional Republicans are talking about investigations, and Democrats, I know, are talking about impeachment.

Martha Kearney:
But it's still presumably impossible to prove any of these allegations?

Wood:
Well, if the Russians have blackmail material, they're hardly going to release it. So it really comes down to the credibility of these FSB sources, these Russian intelligence officers, quoted by a British intelligence officer, who was employed by an opposition research firm, working first for a super PAC supporting Jeb Bush, and then for an anonymous Democratic donor. So of course it is all extremely problematical.