![]() And it followed a hearing in which senators and intelligence leaders described the dangers of foreign mischief in the political systems of the U.S. It brought another twist in the sometimes surreal story about Trump's historic political success. The dossier, which originated with a former British intelligence officer, does not contain the standard caveats or guidance about levels of "confidence" that are common in U.S. Sessions said he wasn't aware of any activities and couldn't respond. Jeff Sessions, Trump's nominee to become attorney general, about what he knew of Trump's dealings with Russia. Democrats on Tuesday urged the FBI to reveal whether it is conducting any investigation into the Trump camp's connections to Russia, but Comey rebuffed them. The timing of the appearance of the dossier is significant - following a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing Tuesday about Russia's campaign to disrupt the 2016 presidential election and ahead of Trump's planned news conference. Cohen posted a photo of his passport on his own Twitter account with the hashtag "#FakeNews." "I'm telling you emphatically that I've not been to Prague, I've never been to Czech, I've not been to Russia," as reporter Rosie Gray quoted him on Twitter. "My expectation and my hope is that this work will continue after I leave that Congress, in possession of both the classified and unclassified reports, that the president-elect and his administration - in possession of both the classified and unclassified reports - will take it seriously and now get to work reinforcing those mechanisms that we can use to protect our democracy." needed to continue strengthening its cyber-defenses. He reminded Lester Holt that he ordered the investigation released Friday of Russia's meddling in the presidential election and that the U.S. Obama told NBC News on Tuesday in an interview ahead of his farewell address that he hadn't seen the news reports and wouldn't comment on classified information. Members of Congress on the Intelligence and Armed Services committees also declined to comment. intelligence services declined to comment on Tuesday evening. The document, which describes information provided by Russian government and other sources, details behavior by Trump that could leave him open to blackmail, as well as alleged secret meetings between Trump aides and Russian officials called to discuss the campaign against Clinton and potential new business relationships. NPR is not detailing the contents of the brief because it remains unverified, but it describes a concerted effort by Russian President Vladimir Putin to cultivate a relationship with Trump and his camp. The alleged intelligence document appears likely to dominate the upcoming session. Trump has scheduled a news conference for Wednesday - his first since one in July in which he quipped that Russia should hack materials related to his Democratic opponent, Hillary Clinton. Wednesday, a Kremlin spokesman said the document was an "absolute fabrication." Presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russia had no compromising material on President-elect Donald Trump and that the document was a hoax intended to further damage U.S.-Russian relations. Without mentioning the report directly, Trump tweeted, "FAKE NEWS - A TOTAL POLITICAL WITCH HUNT!" On Tuesday night, Trump and his attorney named in the report separately characterized the document as untrue. Details from it have been part of presentations by Comey and other intelligence leaders to Trump, President Obama and key leaders in Congress. The brief, which NPR has seen but not independently verified, was given by Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman John McCain to FBI Director James Comey on Dec. intelligence officials have briefed leaders in Washington about an explosive - but unverified - document that alleges collusion between Russia and President-elect Donald Trump, NPR has learned. President-elect Donald Trump gets on an elevator Monday after speaking with reporters at Trump Tower in New York. ![]()
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