NOTABLE: Downer’s Connections to British Intelligence
https://m.theepochtimes.com/fbis-stated-reliance-on-papadopoulos-downer-meeting-fraught-with-inconsistencies_2623195.html
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 contact with Hakluyt officials.
“Australian High Commissioner to the UK Alexander Downer had been on the advisory board of the London-headquartered firm since 2008 when he was a UN special envoy but was forced to give up the position when he was appointed to head the Australian diplomatic post in London in 2014,” News Corp. reported on Jan. 18, 2016.
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.
In the official version of events, the FBI was informed on July 22, 2016, of the Papadopoulos–Downer conversation. This was the first time Papadopoulos landed on the FBI’s radar.
Just over a week later, on July 31, 2016, the FBI opened a massive counterintelligence investigation into an opposing presidential candidate’s campaign based solely on this single conversation—a conversation that differed little from details contained in the June 20, 2016, memo by Steele, which the FBI had already had in their possession since early July.