WASHINGTON Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-Hawaii) did not communicate an offer for dialogue from President Donald Trump to Syrian strongman Bashar Assad during her trip to Syria in January, she told The Huffington Post on Monday.

Gabbards controversial visit with Assad has gained renewed attention after the Lebanese newspaper Al-Akhbar , which is considered close to the Syrian leader, ran a story allegedly featuring details of the meeting.

The report quoted Gabbard as telling Assad, This is a question to you coming from President Trump which he asked me to convey to you. So let me repeat the question: If President Trump contacted you, would you answer the call? according to a translation by Brown University professor Elias Muhanna.

Asked by HuffPost if the Al-Akhbar report was accurate, Gabbard emailed, No.

Emily Latimer, a spokeswoman for Gabbard, elaborated later in an email.

The exchange described in this story never happened, Latimer wrote. There was no message or question from Trump because as the congresswoman has previously stated, the Trump Administration was not aware or involved in her trip in any way, and she did not relay any communications from the Trump administration. The claims in this article suggesting otherwise are false.