Malcolm Turnbull reveals Alexander Downer raised Russia concerns regarding US election without government approval

Malcolm Turnbull reveals Alexander Downer raised Russia concerns regarding US election without government approval

Downer raised Russia concerns at US embassy without government approval

By David Crowe

April 18, 2020 — 12.00am

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.
A new memoir by former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull reveals that Mr Downer raised his concerns directly with the US embassy in London in July 2016 but had "no authority from Canberra" to do so.

Former Australian foreign minister Alexander Downer.Credit:AP

The move was crucial to the launch of an FBI investigation into the Russian support for the election of US President Donald Trump, who dismissed the inquiry as a "witch-hunt" and ordered an inquiry into the affair.
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.

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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.
In his new memoir, A Bigger Picture, Mr Turnbull says Mr Downer did this without checking with the department.

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull with United States of America President Donald Trump in February 2018.Credit:Alex Ellinghausen

"Trump was endorsed as the Republican candidate on 19 July, and that prompted Alexander to call on the US charge d’affaires (standing in for their ambassador) and tell him about the Papadopoulos discussion.
"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.

The Turnbull Memoir

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"We were very reluctant to get dragged into the middle of the US presidential election, but agreed to Downer being interviewed on the basis it was kept confidential and any information he provided was not circulated beyond the FBI."
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".
"Fortunately sanity and the facts prevailed, but it provided an interesting frisson to our meetings at the White House in February 2018," Mr Turnbull writes, without elaborating on whether Mr Trump remarked on the matter.
Mr Downer declined to comment but he has been praised for raising the concerns given the findings on Russian interference in the report handed down last year by special counsel Robert Mueller.

Mr Papadopoulos was sentenced to 14 days in jail for lying to the FBI in his account of the matter, and later claimed Mr Downer was a spy sent to entrap him – a claim Mr Downer, the Australian government and others dismiss.