Donald Trump, Citing The Kremlin, Says Russia Has No Compromising Information On Him

President-elect Donald Trump on Wednesday morning denied reports that Russia may have obtained compromising information about him, citing a statement from the Kremlin and comparing his situation to people living in Nazi Germany.

"Russia just said the unverified report paid for by political opponents is 'A COMPLETE AND TOTAL FABRICATION, UTTER NONSENSE.' Very unfair!" Trump tweeted Wednesday morning.

"Russia has never tried to use leverage over me. I HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH RUSSIA - NO DEALS, NO LOANS, NO NOTHING!" he said in a follow-up tweet.

The Kremlin statement, from spokesman Dmitry Peskov, called the reports "an absolute fabrication, and it’s complete nonsense,” according to the Guardian. Peskov also said the Kremlin "does not engage in collecting kompromat," using the Russian word for compromising information about a public figure.

Several national media outlets, including CNN, The Washington Post and The New York Times, reported Tuesday night that the classified version of the intelligence community's report on Russian cyberattacks included some evidence that the Kremlin may have extremely damaging information about Trump. It also alleged that his staff may have worked with Russians to defeat Hillary Clinton, the reports said.

Various outlets published stories on the intelligence Tuesday night, stressing that they have not been verified; BuzzFeed subsequently published a document that it reported was the full dossier of intelligence, though it has not been officially authenticated. It was generated largely from opposition research done on Trump during the campaign, the New York Times said, by both Republicans and Democrats.

A two-page summary of the dossier was presented to president and president-elect in intelligence briefings, according to reports citing U.S. officials. The bulk of the allegations is believed to have come from a former British intelligence official who now works in the private sector.

"I win an election easily, a great 'movement' is verified, and crooked opponents try to belittle our victory with FAKE NEWS. A sorry state!" Trump continued in Twitter posts Wednesday morning.

"Intelligence agencies should never have allowed this fake news to 'leak' into the public. One last shot at me. Are we living in Nazi Germany?" Trump said.

Trump is scheduled to have a press conference Wednesday morning from Trump Tower in New York City.

The allegations made public Tuesday night range from the salacious to the duplicitous. According to the document, the Kremlin has been "cultivating, supporting, and assisting" Trump for many years, and Trump accepted regular rounds of intelligence on Hillary Clinton and his political rivals.

It says that one individual close to Trump, named as "Source D," found the intelligence on Clinton "very helpful."

It also alleges that Trump's sexual conduct while in Moscow was "perverted," which the Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation, known as FSB, arranged and monitored. Accordingly, a "former top Russian intelligence officer claims FSB has compromised TRUMP enough through his activities in Moscow sufficiently to be able to blackmail him."

One particularly incendiary passage reports that Trump hired several prostitutes while staying at the presidential suite of the Ritz Carlton Hotel in Moscow, where President Obama had previously stayed. The document claims that Trump proceeded to defile the bed through obscure sexual acts.

"The hotel was known to be under FSB control with microphones and concealed camera in all the main rooms to record anything they wanted to," it reads.

It also claims that the Kremlin attempted to ingratiate itself with Trump by offering him lush real estate deals, but Trump has not taken up the offers. Several of Trump's associates are directly named as having close ties to Moscow, including secret payments and meetings. It paints a picture of Trump and his political operation as much more deeply connected to Russia than even many of his critics have imagined.

The document suggests that Russian officials have a dossier on Hillary Clinton, not made available outside Russia or to the Trump team, collected by phone intercepts and bugging while she was in Russia. It's possible such information may have been preserved as ammunition in case she had won the presidency.

Even if the document is genuine, the information it contains is itself unverified. This intelligence work was based on second-hand reports from Russian sources. However, the intelligence chiefs found the source to be credible in the past and have worked to verify the claims.

The summary document was attached to the classified versions of the reports by American intelligence agencies on Russian hacking sent to officials last week, according to CNN. They included the summary in part so the president-elect would know what the nature of the kinds of claims against him.

Versions had been floating around Washington reporting and political circles for months.

Bill Kristol, a conservative commentator from the Weekly Standard, noted on Twitter that if this report is genuine and accurate, its publication serves to lessen Russia's ability for blackmail.

"Russia presumably now has less leverage on Trump, as threat would have been to make the info public," he said.

Yochi Dreazen notes at Vox, "If the allegations are true, they will spark criminal investigations and the types of congressional probes that could end Trump’s presidency before it fully begins."

Trump responded to the news angrily Tuesday night, tweeting what follows:

Find the full document here>>

Photo credit: Gage Skidmore