Politics: REPORT: Nigel Farage is 'person of interest' in FBI probe into Trump and Russia

Farage had attracted the FBI's interest because of his connections with Trump's campaign team and with Wikileaks founder Julian Assange.

LONDON — Former UKIP leader Nigel Farage is a "person of interest" in the FBI probe into possible collusion between Russia and US President Donald Trump's presidential campaign, according to a Guardian report.

Sources familiar with the investigation told the Guardian that Farage had attracted the FBI's interest because of his connections with Trump's campaign team and with Wikileaks founder Julian Assange, who he visited in January.

Wikileaks published a tranche of hacked emails last year which damaged the Hilary Clinton's presidential campaign, and Assange is suspected to have cooperated with Russia through third parties to obtain the emails, an allegation he has repeatedly denied.

Business Insider reported in March that UKIP under Farage's leadership had long-standing links to Assange, and the Observer last month suggested that Farage may have provided a "back-channel" that allowed Trump's campaign to communicate with Assange.

Roger Stone, a Republican strategist whose links to Russia are currently under investigation by the FBI, told a local CBS reporter that "we have a good mutual friend … that friend travels back and forth from the United States to London and we talk." Farage's spokesperson told the Observer that the former UKIP leader was "definitely not" the mutual friend.

Responding to Thursday's Guardian report, a spokesman said: "Nigel has never been to Russia, let alone worked with their authorities." Farage's spokesman did not respond to questions about whether Farage was aware of the FBI probe.

Farage is also closely associated Trump's campaign team, particularly with chief strategist Steve Bannon, and he became the first politician to visit the president when he took office in January.

The former UKIP leader has also made regular appearances on Russia's state-owned broadcaster, Russia Today.

Farage ended an interview with German newspaper Die Zeit last month when he was repeatedly pressed on his links with Russia.

Farage had attracted the FBI's interest because of his connections with Trump's campaign team and with Wikileaks founder Julian Assange. Read Full Story