John McCain dispatched a trusted aide across the Atlantic to get dirty dossier

John McCain dispatched a trusted aide across the Atlantic to get dirty dossier from ex-spy after former British diplomat told him about blackmail tapes

--The Guardian charted the path the dirty dossier made from a British intelligence professional to Sen. John McCain and then the FBI

--McCain, 80, put out a statement Wednesday saying that he was the bureau's source of the controversial dossier

--The Arizona Republican found out about the dossier's existence while at a meeting in Canada and dispatched an emissary to hunt it down

--He met an ex-British diplomat in Canada - now identified as Sir Andrew Wood -who in one version of events told him about the file

--Wood is a former associate of Tony Blair the ex-British prime minister, and admitted talking to McCain

--He issued a nuanced statement saying he did not give McCain the dossier and had 'done nothing wrong' but he did not deny telling McCain the file existed



Shortly after the election,John McCain (right) was attending a conference in Canada and spoke with a 'former senior western diplomat' who knew of the dossier's existence. That man was Sir Andrew Wood. He issued a nuanced explanation of his dealings with McCain: 'I would like to stress that I did not pass on any dossier to Senator McCain or anyone else and I did not see a dossier at the time.' He did not deny alerting McCain to its existence