'He had no authority from Canberra to do this, and the first we heard of it in Australia was when the FBI turned up in London and wanted to interview Downer,' writes then prime minister TurnbullMalcolm. | EXCLUSIVE by CroweDM
Former foreign minister Alexander Downer acted without clearance from Australian officials when he contacted United States diplomats four years ago to raise concerns about potential Russian interference in the US presidential election.
Mr Downer, the Australian High Commissioner to the United Kingdom at the time, met Trump aide George Papadopoulos in London in May 2016 and was told the Russians had "damaging" material on Democrat candidate Hillary Clinton.While Mr Downer mentioned this in a cable to the Department of Foreign Affairs, the information was not acted upon until he later chose to raise it with the deputy at the US embassy in London, Elizabeth Dibble.
Mr Turnbull praises the Australian ambassador in Washington DC at the time, Joe Hockey, for making sure Mr Trump did not conclude this was an "anti-Trump conspiracy".
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