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Kremlin: Spy report on Donald Trump is 'pulp fiction'

By Andrew V. Pestano
Russian President Vladimir Putin continues to deny reports that the Russian government meddled in the U.S. presidential election. File Photo by Alexei Druzhinin/Kremlin/Pool/Sputnik/European Pressphoto Agency
Russian President Vladimir Putin continues to deny reports that the Russian government meddled in the U.S. presidential election. File Photo by Alexei Druzhinin/Kremlin/Pool/Sputnik/European Pressphoto Agency

MOSCOW, Jan. 11 (UPI) -- Dmitry Peskov, spokesman for Russian President Vladimir Putin, has dismissed a report alleging the Kremlin has information that could compromise U.S. President-elect Donald Trump, calling the publication "pulp fiction."

Peskov said the Kremlin does not have information on Trump, which some have alleged Moscow is using to blackmail the president-elect. He called the report "an obvious attempt to harm our bilateral relations."

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On Tuesday, CNN reported that intelligence officials who briefed President Barack Obama and Trump about Russia's possible meddling in the 2016 U.S. presidential election included an addendum saying Russia has compromising personal and financial information on Trump.

"No, the Kremlin has no compromising materials on Trump," Peskov said. "This is absolutely fake information, a fabrication and complete nonsense. The Kremlin does not engage in gathering compromising materials."

The FBI and CIA are investigating a report from a former British MI6 operative that Russia has information on Trump that could be used against him. They have not yet verified it, but CNN reported the agencies found the spy's past work to be credible, adding the agencies also vetted the spy's sources.

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"It is an obvious attempt to harm our bilateral relations. The quality of the public version of the previous report and this hoax is comparable. In English, it is called pulp fiction," Peskov said of the report, adding that the "witch hunt" against Russia in "the continuation of this hysterical condition" would damage the possibility the countries could "switch over from total confrontation to constructivism in relations."

On Monday, the Kremlin dismissed U.S. intelligence reports that indicate the Russian government meddled in the U.S. election as "absolutely unfounded" and "amateurishly emotional."

Peskov also said Russia does not have compromising information on former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

The U.S. intelligence report included a two-page addendum of the British spy's report, which alleged the Kremlin was "cultivating, supporting and assisting" Trump for at least five years.

BuzzFeed published an unverified copy of the spy's dossier.

"FAKE NEWS - A TOTAL POLITICAL WITCH HUNT!" Trump tweeted Tuesday night.

Trump's lawyer, Michael Cohen, denied the reports, dismissing them as "fake news."

"It's so ridiculous on so many levels. Clearly the person who created this did so from their imagination or did so hoping the liberal media would run with this fake story for whatever rationale they might have," Cohen told Mic. "It's so ridiculous on so many levels."

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