Will DOWNER will be the next Australian 'career' Politician to 'depart'?
FBI’s Stated Reliance on Papadopoulos–Downer Meeting Fraught With Inconsistencies
Meeting was not a chance encounter, and similar information appeared in the first Steele memo ...
Downer, in his interview with The Australian, said that he reported his conversation with Papadopoulos back to Australia. “Well, it was worth reporting,’’ he said. “It wasn’t the only thing we reported. We reported [back to Australia] the following day or a day or two after … it seemed quite interesting.’’ Downer’s conversation with Papadopoulos was reportedly disclosed to the FBI on July 22, 2016, through channels with the Australian government.
However, according to a May 31, 2018, article
published in The Wall Street Journal, it was Downer who conveyed his information directly to the U.S. Embassy in London. ...
Downer’s background appears somewhat unusual for an Australian diplomat. Downer has
long-standing ties to UK intelligence firm Hakluyt, having served on the
advisory board of Hakluyt’s parent company Holdingham from 2008 to 2014. Hakluyt’s top officials come from MI6. Several board members, like Sir Iain Lobben, come from
GCHQ—the UK equivalent to the National Security Agency. Former MI6 head
Richard Dearlove has a number of ties to Hakluyt as well.
Downer was forced to
resign from Hakluyt’s advisory board when he became Australian ambassador to the UK in 2014. But Downer reportedly maintained
contactwith Hakluyt officials. ...
Downer, according to the article, had still been attending client conferences and gatherings of the group.
Downer also
arranged one of the largest foreign donations to the Clinton Foundation: $25 million from the Australian government.
