Former UKIP leader Nigel Farage has dismissed reports he is a "person of interest" in an FBI investigation into possible collusion between Russia and Donald Trump’s US presidential campaign.
"No, of course they haven't," Mr Farage told BBC radio when he was asked if the FBI had been in touch with him.
"I mean this is just hysteria."
The Guardian reported on Thursday that Mr Farage had not been accused of wrongdoing and was not a suspect or a target of the US investigation.
But it said he was "right in the middle" of the relationships being looked at.
US officials have previously said they were unaware of any serious FBI interest in Mr Farage.
The Guardian reported that Mr Farage had "raised the interest" of FBI investigators due to his connections with Mr Trump and Julian Assange's WikiLeaks, which published leaked emails from the US Democratic National Committee during the campaign.
Mr Farage told the BBC that there was no evidence that the Guardian's source for its story was from within the FBI, and said he had met Mr Assange only once.
He also said he suspected the leaked emails came from a source among the Democrats rather than Russia.
Mr Farage, asked whether he would talk to the FBI if requested, said: "What do you think I would do? Go and hide in an embassy for five years? Can I just say, it is not going to happen. It is complete fabrication, there is nothing in it, it is hysterical nonsense."
Former FBI Director James Comey is due to testify to Congress next week.
Mr Comey was leading the FBI investigation when Mr Trump fired him last month.
