WASHINGTON: Information shared by Australia helped spark the FBI’s probe into Russia’s attempts to disrupt the US presidential election and possible collusion by Donald Trump’s campaign, The New York Times reported Saturday.

George Papadopoulos, a former Trump campaign foreign policy advisor who has pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI, told Australia’s ex-foreign minister Alexander Downer that Russia had “dirt” on Hillary Clinton, information that Australia later passed on to its close ally the United States, the Times said.

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