CREDIT: AP Photo/Alastair Grant.
Britain’s spy agencies played a crucial role in alerting their counterparts in Washington to contacts between members of Donald Trump’s campaign team and Russian intelligence operatives, the Guardian has been told.
GCHQ first became aware in late 2015 of suspicious “interactions” between figures connected to Trump and known or suspected Russian agents, a source close to UK intelligence said. This intelligence was passed to the US as part of a routine exchange of information, they added.
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.
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.
Another source suggested the Dutch and the French spy agency, the General Directorate for External Security or DGSE, were contributors.
It is understood that GCHQ was at no point carrying out a targeted operation against Trump or his team or proactively seeking information. 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.
I have to wonder, just how much damage is it going to take? How much bigger do all the illegalities have to get? Some people are still hopeful of impeachment, but I have serious doubts on that score. Seems the U.S. has just given up on giving a shit, and there isn’t even much of a sham of an investigation going on. This is beyond disgraceful.
Retro-scope for the win. All the surveillance in the world is useless if you don’t act on it in time.
The republicans in charge don’t give a shit because they are in power and in charge. They are determined to undo any social justice that has been accomplished in my lifetime. I am fucking glad I do not have offspring.
The Repubes will never give up their pen-hand.
Photosgraphs of Trump accepting suitcases stuffed with money from Putin, while both sport broad, rakish grins in the best tradition of comic book villains committing evil deeds, would confirm only one thing to loyal Trump followers: He really is a good businessman. And therefore, by some bizarre twist of logic, the US are apparently in ‘good hands’.