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The documents relate to an FBI investigation into Carter Page, formerly a foreign policy advisor to the Trump Presidential campaign, who the agency believes Russian intelligence attempted to recruit. In October 2016, just a month before the Presidential election, the FBI received permission to wiretap Mr Page from a secret court created under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. However, Trump allies argue the FBI abused their powers by failing to follow due process, and are pushing for documents related to the case to be released.

President Trump previously viewed to declassify 21 pages from the wiretapping application, and is said to be “very seriously” thinking about doing so again. If they are published, British spy masters worry secret UK sources could be revealed. A US intelligence source, who supports the British position, told The Telegraph: “It boils down to the exposure of people. “We don’t want to reveal sources and methods.” READ MORE: SNAP ELECTION LOOMING? CORBYN MEETS M16 DUE TO SNAP ELECTION FEARS

“It boils down to the exposure of people. We don’t want to reveal sources and methods”

The MI6 headquarters at Vauxhall Cross in London

The wiretapping application is said to include allegations against Trump made by former senior MI6 figure Christopher Steele, who compiled a dossier on the then Presidential nominee which was later leaked. Staff at the British Embassy in Washington D.C. have reportedly been told not to discuss the dispute with journalists due to its sensitivity. Several Trump associates have alleged the UK was involved in surveillance against figures in the then Presidential nominees campaign. George Papadopoulos, a Trump campaign foreign policy advisor during 2016, claimed they were targeted by a “plot by Western intelligence”.

Donald Trump at a 2016 campaign rally

He told The Daily Telegraph: “The British Government has a lot of explaining to do. “Why was the British intelligence apparatus weaponised against Trump and his advisors?” In March 2017 Sean Spicer, then White House press secretary, suggested British intelligence monitoring station could have GCHQ could have spied on the Trump campaign at the request of the Obama administration. GCHQ issued a rare public denial in response to the claim, which it labelled “nonsense” and “utterly ridiculous”.

The GCHQ headquarters in Cheltenham