Washington: Former Trump campaign adviser George Papadopoulos told Australian diplomat Alexander Downer in May 2016 that Russia had political dirt on Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton.

The conversation between Papadopoulos and Australia's High Commissioner to the UK was a driving factor behind the Federal Bureau of Investigation's decision to open a counter-intelligence investigation of Moscow's contacts with the Trump campaign, the New York Times reported on Saturday.

Two months after the meeting in London, Australian officials passed the information to their American counterparts when leaked Democratic emails began appearing online, according to the newspaper, which cited four current and former US and foreign officials.

Besides the information from the Australians, the probe by the FBI was also propelled by intelligence from other friendly governments, including the British and Dutch, the Times said.