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On 11 January 2017, media reports revealed that MI6 operative Christopher Steele, called by the media a "highly regarded Kremlin expert", "one of MI6's greatest 'Russia specialists" and a "real-life James Bond", had authored a controversial dossier on United States President-elect Donald Trump, concerning Trump's alleged ties to Russia.

The dossier passed from Steele to John McCain and U.S. intelligence, until Trump and Barack Obama were briefed on its existence by the chiefs of several U.S. intelligence agencies. Joe Biden has confirmed that he and the president had received briefings on the dossier, and the allegations within.

The existence of the dossier was first reported by CNN on the afternoon of 11 January. Although its existence had been "common knowledge" among journalists for around half a year at that point, the Telegraph asserted that Steele's anonymity had been "fatally compromised" after CNN published his nationality. The Independent reported that Steele had fled his home in England several hours before the release of the report and "went to ground" after "realizing it was only a matter of time until his name became public knowledge," and "now fears a prompt and potentially dangerous backlash against him from Moscow." Steele worked for Orbis Business Intelligence, Ltd. at the time the dossier was authored, and Orbis director Christopher Burrows would not "confirm or deny" that Orbis had produced the dossier.

The BBC has claimed the existence of a second dossier and that three independent sources from Steele within British intelligence back Steele's account, writing "the CIA believes it is credible that the Kremlin has such kompromat—or compromising material— on the next US commander in chief" and "a joint taskforce, which includes the CIA and the FBI, has been investigating allegations that the Russians may have sent money to Mr Trump's organisation or his election campaign."

Glenn Greenwald, an outspoken critic of U.S. intelligence agencies, criticized the dossier and the circumstances of its publication as "classic Cold War dirty tactics".

See also

• 2016 United States election interference by Russia

References

1. Hope, Bradley; Rothfeld, Michael; Cullison, Alan (11 January 2017). "Christopher Steele, Ex-British Intelligence Officer, Said to Have Prepared Dossier on Trump". Wall Street Journal.
2. "The ex-spy who wrote the Trump dossier is nicknamed James Bond". NBC News. 13 January 2017.
3. "Donald Trump dossier: Russians point finger at MI6 over leaked intelligence report". The Telegraph. 12 January 2017.
4. "Ex-MI6 officer Christopher Steele in hiding after Trump dossier". BBC News. 12 January 2017.
5. John, Tara (13 January 2017). "What to Know About Christopher Steele, Alleged Author of the Trump Dossier". Time.
6. Haynes, Deborah (11 January 2017). "Spy behind report knew Litvinenko". The Times.
7. "John McCain intrigue grows in Donald Trump dossier affair".
8. Borger, Julian (12 January 2017). "How the Trump dossier came to light: secret sources, a retired spy and John McCain" – via The Guardian.
9. "FBI head Comey told Trump about Russia dossier after intel briefing".
10. Staff, AOL. "Biden: Obama and I were told about Trump dossier ahead of leaks".
11. Cite error: The named reference buzzfeed.com was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
12. ^ Nichols, Hans (1970-01-01). "Former British Spy Christopher Steele Prepared Explosive Trump Memo". NBC News. Retrieved 2017-01-12.
13. ^ "Former MI6 officer Christopher Steele, who produced Donald Trump Russian dossier, 'terrified for his safety' and went to ground before name released". Telegraph.co.uk. Retrieved 2017-01-12.
14. Marcotte, Amanda (13 January 2017). "What do we know about Donald Trump's outrageous "dossier"? Almost nothing — except that it exposes his most serious weaknesses". Salon.
15. Confessore, Scott Shane, Nicholas; Rosenberg, Matthew (11 January 2017). "How a Sensational, Unverified Dossier Became a Crisis for Donald Trump". The New York Times.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
16. Cite error: The named reference auto1 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
17. Wood, Paul (12 January 2017). "Trump 'compromising' claims: How and why did we get here?". BBC News.
18. Drum, Kevin (12 January 2017). "BBC's Paul Wood: There are four sources for claims of possible Trump-Russia blackmail". Mother Jones.
19. "BBC claims a second source backs up Trump dossier". The Week. 11 January 2017.
20. "Four sources to possible claims of Trump-Russia blackmail: BBC's Paul Wood". WION. 13 January 2017.
21. The Deep State Goes to War With President-Elect, Using Unverified Claims, as Democrats Cheer (The Intercept, 11 January 2017)

• 2017 in American politics
• Donald Trump controversies
• Espionage scandals and incidents
• Foreign influence in national elections
• Russia–United States relations
• United States presidential election, 2016