REPORT: Nigel Farage is 'person of interest' in FBI probe into Trump and Russia

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June 1, 2017 1:30 PM

Farage had attracted the FBI's interest because of his connections to Donald Trump's campaign team and with WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, per The Guardian.

Nigel Farage.

LONDON — Former UK Independence Party leader Nigel Farage is a "person of interest" in the FBI's investigation into whether US President Donald Trump's campaign colluded with Russia, according to a Guardian report published Thursday.

Sources familiar with the investigation told The Guardian that Farage had attracted the FBI's interest because of his connections with Trump's presidential campaign team and WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, whom he visited in March.

WikiLeaks published several hacked emails last year that supporters of Hillary Clinton say damaged her presidential bid. Assange is suspected to have cooperated with Russia through third parties to obtain the emails, an allegation he has repeatedly denied.

Farage told the Press Association on Thursday afternoon that he was "extremely doubtful" he could be a person of interest in the FBI's investigation.

Shortly after, he denounced the report on Twitter as "a hysterical attempt to associate me with the Putin regime."

Business Insider reported in March that UKIP under Farage's leadership had long-standing links to Assange, and The Observer last month suggested Farage could have provided a "back channel" that allowed Trump's campaign to communicate with Assange.

The Observer reported:

"In October, Roger Stone, a Republican strategist whose links to Russia are currently under investigation by the FBI, told a local CBS reporter about 'a back-channel communication with Assange, because we have a good mutual friend … that friend travels back and forth from the United States to London and we talk.' Asked directly by The Observer if Nigel Farage was that friend, his spokesman said: 'Definitely not.'"

Farage's spokesman told The Guardian: "Nigel has never been to Russia, let alone worked with their authorities." The spokesman did not respond when asked about whether Farage was aware of the FBI investigation.

Farage is also closely associated Trump's campaign team, particularly with White House Chief Strategist Steve Bannon, who was the campaign's chief executive. Farage became the first UK politician to visit Trump after his election victory in November.

The former UKIP leader has also made regular appearances on Russia's state-owned broadcaster, Russia Today.

Farage ended an interview with the German newspaper Die Zeit earlier this month when he repeatedly was pressed about his links to Russia.

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