TIRANA, Albania (AP) — Albania's Democratic Party, the main opposition group, has rejected allegations by U.S. publication Mother Jones that the party received secret funds from Russian sources during last year's parliamentary election.

Mother Jones alleged in an article published Tuesday that Russian-linked companies used a U.S. lobbyist to secretly meddle in Albania's 2017 election.

On Wednesday, the conservative Democrats rejected the allegations, accusing Prime Minister Edi Rama of the left-wing Socialist Party of funding a "ridiculous story ... with false facts."

The Democrats, who suffered a major setback in June's election, signed a contract with U.S. lobbyist Nick Muzin, funded by a Russian-linked company, to arrange a meeting for party leader Lulzim Basha with President Donald Trump and four Republican senators so he could "trumpet that (support) in Albania" ahead of the polls.