Sources tell CNN that these same allegations about communications between the Trump campaign and the Russians, mentioned in classified briefings for congressional leaders last year, prompted then-Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid to send a letter to FBI Director Comey in October , in which he wrote, "It has become clear that you possess explosive information about close ties and coordination between Donald Trump, his top advisors, and the Russian government -- a foreign interest openly hostile to the United States." The documents have circulated for months and acquired a kind of legendary status among journalists, lawmakers, and intelligence officials who have seen them. The allegations came, in part, from memos compiled by a former British intelligence operative, whose past work US intelligence officials consider credible. This was for an opposition research project originally financed by a Republican client critical of the celebrity mogul. According to his sources, he says, “there was an established exchange of information between the Trump campaign and the Kremlin of mutual benefit.” 
 
 This was, the former spy remarks, “an extraordinary situation.” He regularly consults with US government agencies on Russian matters, and near the start of July on his own initiative—without the permission of the US company that hired him—he sent a report he had written for that firm to a contact at the FBI, according to the former intelligence officer and his American associates, who asked not to be identified. Some of the allegations were first reported publicly in Mother Jones one week before the election. Drew Angerer / Getty Images ID: 10302602 
 
 A dossier making explosive — but unverified — allegations that the Russian government has been “cultivating, supporting and assisting” President-elect Donald Trump for years and gained compromising information about him has been circulating among elected officials, intelligence agents, and journalists for weeks. “I think [Trump’s] own party should be aware of this stuff as well.” 
 
 The Trump campaign did not respond to a request for comment regarding the memos. The FBI is investigating the credibility and accuracy of these allegations, which are based primarily on information from Russian sources, but has not confirmed many essential details in the memos about Mr. Trump. Harry Reid spokesman Adam Jentleson tweeted Tuesday that the former Senate Democratic leader had seen the documents before writing a public letter to FBI Director James Comey about Trump’s ties to Russia.
– CNN is reporting on bombshell classified documents presented to Donald Trump and President Obama last week. The intelligence documents allege that Russian operatives have—or at least claim to have—compromising information, both financial and personal, on Trump. The documents have been circulating since before the election—Mother Jones actually reported on them in October—and took on "a kind of legendary status among journalists, lawmakers, and intelligence officials," according to BuzzFeed. US intelligence officials have now investigated the former British intelligence operative behind a lot of the information, as well his sources, and determined them to be credible. The FBI is investigating, and intelligence agencies want Trump to know that these allegations are out there. The details inside the documents haven't been verified, but BuzzFeed has published the documents in whole "so that Americans can make up their own minds." The documents claim Russia has been "cultivating, supporting, and assisting" Trump for years. They state Trump surrogates and Russian government intermediaries met continuously to exchange information during the campaign and that Trump accepted intelligence on political rivals from the Kremlin. The documents also state that Russian operatives claim to have enough dirt to blackmail Trump, including "perverted sexual acts" recorded by Russian intelligence. The Trump campaign has not commented on the documents.