Trump rails over ‘fake dossier’ after Clinton revelation

President Trump on Wednesday used the news that Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign and the Democratic National Committee funded a dossier of allegations about his ties to Russia as a means of attacking it, calling it a “fake dossier” and questioning the credibility of the federal probe into Moscow’s interference in the 2016 election.

Trump said the “made up” dossier is one of just several recent examples of how his critics concocted “the whole Russia hoax.”

“I have to say, the whole Russian thing is what it’s turned out to be,” he told reporters at the White House. “This was the Democrats coming up with an excuse for losing an election.”

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The Washington Post reported on Tuesday that the Clinton campaign and the DNC funded the dossier. The news has created a problem for Democrats, as the report shows the Democratic presidential campaign funded a foreign spy’s opposition research — an accusation similar to complaints that Democrats have brought against Trump’s campaign.

Former British spy Christopher Steele compiled the dossier for the opposition research firm Fusion GPS.

It contains a series of lewd allegations about the president’s personal life and detailed deep financial ties between Trump and high-ranking Russian officials.

The document may have been used by the FBI in its investigation into whether Trump campaign officials had improper contacts with Russians about the election.

Former FBI director James Comey briefed Trump and former President Obama on the existence of the dossier and told a Congressional panel that none of the allegations have been verified.

Congressional investigators have accused the firm’s president, Glenn Simpson, a former reporter, of stonewalling their investigation by refusing to say who paid for it and what their motives were.

It is believed that the opposition research work was begun by one of Trump’s GOP opponents before being handed off to the Democrats, but that has not been confirmed.

Trump on Wednesday said he thinks he knows which Republican might have been behind it.

“They say it began with the Republicans,” Trump said. “I think I would know but I won’t say. It will be determined. It will be determined.”

Trump on Wednesday also weighed in on reports that the House Intelligence Committee would open an investigation into the sale of a uranium company to a Russian firm that took place while Clinton was secretary of State.

“I think the uranium sale to Russia and the way it was done so underhanded with tremendous amounts of money being passed, I think that’s Watergate modern age,” Trump said.

The Intelligence panel announced the investigation after a report in The Hill about evidence gathered by the FBI related to Russia’s efforts to gain traction for its atomic energy firms in the United States before the purchase of Uranium One, the company in question.