Free Republic

ELLEN FANNING: I want to start by asking you: did you meet with George Papadopoulos in the Kensington Wine Bar in May of 2016? And if so, what did he say to you? ALEXANDER DOWNER: Well, let me be blunt about this. Of course it has been widely reported that I did. The original transcript has a comma after "Of course" but there's no verbal pause indicating such. It sounds like Downer may be walking the encounter back. He demurs about everything he's asked regarding Papadopolous.

The FBI investigation into the Trump campaign's ties to Russia was originally known as "Crossfire Hurricane" before it was widely known to the public and even the bureau itself, officials told The New York Times. The case, named after a Rolling Stones lyric, was used by only the small group of agents sent to interview the Australian ambassador to the United Kingdom, who had evidence of possible collusion between Russia and a Trump adviser. Five agents embarked to London in the summer of 2016 for a rare interview with the diplomat after deliberations between American and Australian officials, where they...

Alexander Downer — the Australian diplomat whose tip to the FBI about a London pub conversation led to the massive probe of allegations of collusions between the 2016 Trump campaign and Russia — is himself closely tied to a Chinese firm experts say is deeply involved in espionage against America. Just last month, all six top U.S. intelligence bosses warned Americans against using digital telecommunications equipment produced by Chinese smartphone producer Huawei.