U.S. Politicians Seek To Quiz British Spy Who Wrote Trump Russian Dossier

U.S. politicians are reportedly reaching out for information to the former British spy who authored the unverified dossier allegedly concerning Donald Trump’s activities in Russia.

کد خبر: ۶۷۳۵۶۳

تاریخ: ۱۴ اسفند ۱۳۹۵ - ۱۳:۲۴

Huffington Post - U.S. politicians are reportedly reaching out for information to the former British spy who authored the unverified dossier allegedly concerning Donald Trump’s activities in Russia.

Christopher Steele collected the information working as a private consultant first for anti-Trump Republicans, then for the Democrats in 2016. He became convinced by the summer of that year that Russian President Vladimir Putin was actively attempting to manipulate the American presidential campaign to help Trump, according to The Washington Post.

He turned his dossier on Trump over to the FBI before the election. Its contents were revealed to Trump after he won the presidency. There was some concern among intelligence officials that the information Steele turned up, while unverified, had the potential to be used as blackmail against Trump by the Russians.

When news broke about the dossier, Steele dropped from sight out of fear for the safety of himself and his family and has yet to return to his London home.

Now Democrats and Republicans have reached out to him in the hope that he might testify in a Senate probe of ties between Russian officials and Trump campaign aides, sources have told The Independent. The newspaper says it is unlikely that Steele would travel to the U.S. because of security concerns, but it’s possible he would meet to talk with American leaders in Britain. The Washington Post also reported that House Democrats have reached out to Steele about testifying or otherwise cooperating in an investigation, but he has yet to respond.

Steele is a well regarded intelligence source who worked several years with the British MI-6 spy agency. He also worked with the FBI in the American investigation into corruption in the global soccer association FIFA.

The Washington Post reported last month that the FBI offered to pay Steele to work with American agents to probe Russian links to hacking during the U.S. presidential election. But the deal fell apart. The Telegraph reported that Steele stopped working with the FBI before the presidential election because he was frustrated by the agency’s lack of urgency.

Trump has slammed the dossier, denying all allegations, calling it "crap,” and saying  that it was put together by a "failed spy.”

The dossier was circulating among media outlets and politicians when it was finally released to Trump. Only Buzzfeed has published the actual document because information in it was not verified.

The dossier contained salacious allegations about Trump, as well as other information, such as alleged discussions between Trump and Russian officials about real estate development linked to the upcoming World Cup in Russia and allegations that Trump associates colluded with Russia to hack Democratic Party emails during the campaign.