Malcolm Turnbull almost sacked Alexander Downer for sparking FBI inquiry

Malcolm Turnbull was so incensed Alexander Downer had ‘blundered’ into the American embassy, sparking the FBI inquiry into Russian meddling in the US election, that he considered removing him as Australia’s high commissioner to the UK.

Alexander Downer with then-prime minister Malcolm Turnbull in 2017. Picture: AAP

Former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull was so incensed that Alexander Downer, Australia’s top diplomat in London, had “blundered” into the US embassy, “blurting out political gossip of the most intense political sensitivity”, and sparking the FBI inquiry into Russian meddling in the US ­election, that he considered sacking him.

Mr Turnbull had only found out that Mr Downer had unilaterally informed the US embassy in London of a meeting he had with presidential nominee Donald Trump’s adviser George Papadopoulos when the FBI then sought to interview Downer, the Australian high commissioner to the UK, in early August 2016.

The explosive circumstances surrounding one of the most intriguing diplomatic faux pas in recent times has been revealed in a book by investigative journalist Richard Kerbaj, The Secret History of The Five Eyes.

Mr Turnbull told Kerbaj: “What he did would have got any other ambassador sacked, It was reckless and self-indulgent and put the Australian government in a very awkward position.”

But when asked why Mr Downer wasn’t relieved of his position, Mr Turnbull said: “Alexander was a good friend of mine and the foreign minister, Julie Bishop.

“He is our longest-serving foreign minister, a former leader of the Liberal Party. And at the time we learned of his foolish behaviour we had every interest in keeping it confidential.”

Mr Downer had initiated a meeting at the Kensington Wine Rooms in London with Mr Papadopoulos in early May 2016 after the adviser had publicly castigated British prime minister David Cameron for making negative remarks about Mr Trump.

In the hour-long meeting with Mr Downer, Mr Papadopoulos claimed the Russian government had material on Hillary Clinton, Mr Trump’s main rival in the Democratic camp.

“It sounded bad, but my attitude at the time was who would know whether this was even true,” Mr Downer says in the book, confirming he had sent a report of the discussion in a cable to Canberra.

But when Mr Trump had been confirmed as the Republican Party’s nominee some six weeks later in July, he very soon encouraged Russia to hack into the email accounts of Ms Clinton, prompting Mr Downer to head straight for the US embassy headquarters in central London.

Mr Downer met US deputy ambassador Elizabeth Dibble on July 28 and within hours a missive arrived at FBI headquarters in Washington, DC, with details of the Papadopoulos remarks.

Kerbaj says Peter Strzok, deputy director of the organisation’s counterintelligence division, was immediately intrigued by the timing of the meeting that had taken place between Mr Downer and Mr Papadopoulos.

“The fact it had been in May 2016 suggested that Trump’s adviser had been aware of Russia’s planned election interference one month before the issue had become publicly known,’’ he wrote.

Mr Turnbull, meanwhile, considered Mr Downer’s “act without any authority” in giving the information to Washington was reckless. “Downer’s information, which he had reported to Canberra and our Washington Embassy in May, should only have been passed on to the Americans via the most discreet intelligence community channels,” Mr Turnbull says in the book.

“Blundering into the American Embassy in London, blurting out political gossip of the most intense political sensitivity was the worst possible way to do it.”

Mr Turnbull added: “The first we knew about it was when the FBI arrived in London and asked to interview him.

“At that point, he did have the common sense to tell Canberra what had happened. In the circumstances we could hardly refuse to allow him to speak to the FBI but great care was taken to ensure that his evidence would be kept confidential.”

Mr Turnbull said Mr Downer’s actions had brought into “question the discipline and professionalism of our foreign service” and had given Mr Trump “every reason to believe” the FBI investigation “was instigated by the Australian government”.

Kerbaj writes how Mr Turnbull was forced to intervene to preserve Australia’s relationship with the Trump administration.

“We had to explain that Downer had acted on his own, without authority,” Mr Turnbull says.

Kerbaj suggests that there is no way to properly determine the extent to which Mr Downer’s tip-off to the FBI influenced Mr Trump’s impression of Australia.

But he documented how six months later, in January 2017, Mr Trump initially opposed an immigration deal struck between Barack Obama and Mr Turnbull.

Mr Trump even told Mr Turnbull that a phone call earlier that day with Russian President Vladimir Putin had been “more pleasant” than the one with the Australian prime minister.

The Secret History of The Five Eyes is published today in Britain and released in Australia on October 5