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Donald Trump says he is 'victim' of dossier on his Russia links that was paid for by Clinton campaign

US President hits back after reports that controversial report was partly funded by Democrats

Benjamin Kentish
Wednesday 25 October 2017 13:35 BST
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Donald Trump said a dossier containing allegations about his links with Russia was 'fake news'
Donald Trump said a dossier containing allegations about his links with Russia was 'fake news' (Getty)

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Donald Trump has said he is the "victim" of fake news after it emerged that Hillary Clinton's campaign helped pay for a controversial dossier linking him to the Russian state.

The Washington Post reported late on Tuesday that the Clinton campaign and the Democratic National Committee (DNC) partly funded the dossier, compiled by former British intelligence officer Christopher Steele, which made salacious claims about Mr Trump.

Investigators exploring potential links between Russia and Mr Trump’s campaign have spent hours interviewing the co-founder of Fusion GPS, the firm that hired Mr Steele.

In response to the latest revelations, Mr Trump posted a quote on Twitter claiming he is the "victim" of fake news.

He wrote: '"Clinton campaign & DNC paid for research that led to the anti-Trump Fake News Dossier. The victim here is the President."'

Mr Trump included the Twitter handle of Fox News, his favoured media outlet, at the end of the tweet.

It is unclear who, if anyone, the Republican was quoting.

Previous reports had suggested the controversial dossier was funded by a wealthy Republican donor who was opposed to the prospect of a Trump presidency. However, it has now emerged that the money also came from the Democratic Party and Ms Clinton's campaign.

According to the Post, a lawyer working on behalf of the DNC and the Clinton campaign hired Fusion GPS after the Republican stopped funding the research.

It is the first time that the DNC and Ms Clinton have been directly linked to the dossier, although previous reports had suggested the Democrats were involved in funding the project.

Mr Trump has repeatedly denied having links to the Russian state and has consistently dismissed the allegations in the dossier. Posting on Twitter at the weekend, he said the document had been "discredited" and demanded the FBI publish details of who funded it.

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