Jump to content

Christopher Steele

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by 87.156.231.94 (talk) at 19:28, 18 January 2017 (Steele retired in 2006 - http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/01/12/lurid-donald-trump-dossier-casts-shadow-mi6-christopher-steele). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

For other people with similar names, see Christopher Steel (disambiguation).
Christopher D. Steele
Born (1964-06-24) 24 June 1964 (age 60)[1]
Aden, Federation of South Arabia
NationalityBritish
Alma materGirton College, Cambridge
OccupationPrivate intelligence consultant
OrganizationOrbis Business Intelligence Ltd

Christopher David Steele (born 24 June 1964) is a former British intelligence officer, and is currently a private intelligence consultant at Orbis Business Intelligence in London. He is the author of a 2016 report that claims Russia collected a file of compromising information on U.S. president-elect Donald Trump.[3][4]

Early life and education

Christopher David Steele was born in Aden, Federation of South Arabia, on 24 June 1964.[1][5] He attended Girton College, Cambridge, wrote for Varsity[6] and in the Easter term of 1986 was President of The Cambridge Union.[7] He was known as a "confirmed Socialist" at that time,[5][8] and graduated with a degree in Social and Political Sciences in 1986.[9]

Career

Steele was recruited by the MI6 directly following his graduation from Cambridge, working in London at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office from 1987 to 1989.[1] From 1990 to 1992, Steele worked under diplomatic cover as an MI6 agent in Moscow, serving at the Embassy of the United Kingdom in Moscow.[10] Steele's identity as an MI6 officer was one of 115 names Her Majesty's Government attempted to suppress through a DSMA-Notice.[11][12] Steele reportedly later served as head of MI6's Russia desk.[13] He returned to London in 1993, working again at the FCO until his posting to Paris in 1998, where he served under diplomatic cover until 2002.[10][14][15][16] In 2003, Steele was sent to Bagram Airfield in Afghanistan as part of an MI6 team, briefing Special Forces on "kill or capture" missions for Taliban targets, and also spent time teaching new MI6 recruits.[10]

Steele's expertise on Russia remained valued, and he served as a senior officer under John Scarlett, Chief of the Secret Intelligence Service (MI6), from 2004 to 2009.[17] Steele was selected as case officer for Alexander Litvinenko and participated in the investigation of the Litvinenko poisoning in 2006.[10] It was Steele who quickly realised that Litvinenko’s death "was a Russian state “hit”".[17]

In March 2009, Steele with his fellow MI6 retiree Chris Burrows co-founded ″Orbis Business Intelligence, Ltd.″, based in Grosvenor Square Gardens near Buckingham Palace.[18] Orbis was hired by The Football Association, Britain's domestic soccer governing body, to investigate corruption at FIFA. The Football Association had hoped to host the 2018 or 2022 World Cups. It was at this time, in 2010, that Steele became known to the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), as he provided information that assisted the FBI in their investigation of corruption allegations about FIFA.[19]

2017 Trump dossier

Main article: Donald Trump Russia dossier

Background and information gathering

In September 2015, Republicans who were concerned about the possibility of Donald Trump winning the Republican presidential nomination retained the services of Fusion GPS, a private Washington D.C. opposition research firm,[20] to investigate Trump's Russia-related activities.[21] By early June 2016, it was clear that Trump had secured the GOP nomination for the 2016 general election. According to David Corn of Mother Jones, Democrats then took over from the Republicans in financing the inquiry into Donald Trump's activity in Russia and Europe.[22] It was at this time that Steele's services were retained by Fusion GPS.[23]

In July 2016, Steele started sending his findings about Trump to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) on his own initiative. He decided to pass the dossier information to both British and American intelligence officials after concluding that such material should not just be in the hands of political opponents of Donald Trump, but was a matter of national security for both countries.[22] His contact at the FBI was the same senior agent with whom he had worked when investigating the FIFA scandal.[10] By early October 2016, he had grown frustrated at the slow rate of progress by the FBI investigation, and cut off further contact with the FBI.[20]

In October 2016, Steele spoke about his discoveries to David Corn of the progressive American political magazine Mother Jones. Corn was the first to write about the dossier, but did not publish it, nor disclose Steele’s identity.[22] Corn's 31 October 2016 article, one week before the presidential election, was entitled, "A Veteran Spy Has Given the FBI Information Alleging a Russian Operation to Cultivate Donald Trump." Corn had documents containing explosive accusations of Trump sex romps and other serious compromising behavior, but he did not publish them, because he couldn't verify the details.[24]

Post-election work on the dossier

The project was no longer of interest to the Democrats, following Trump’s victory in November 2016. Steele and Glenn Simpson, one of the three co-founders of Fusion GPS,[25] continued to work on the dossier without a client to pay them.[26] After the election, Steele's memos "became one of Washington’s worst-kept secrets, as reporters — including from The New York Times — scrambled to confirm or disprove them."[26]

On 18 November 2016, Sir Andrew Wood, British ambassador to Moscow from 1995 to 2000, met with U.S. Senator John McCain at the Halifax International Security Forum in Canada, and told McCain about the existence of the collected materials about Trump.[27] Wood vouched for Steele’s professionalism and integrity.[28] In early December, McCain obtained a copy of the dossier from David J. Kramer, a former U.S. State Department official who now works at Arizona State University.[26] On 9 December 2016 McCain met personally with FBI Director James Comey to pass on the information.[27]

Disclosure and reactions

A two-page summary of the Trump dossier was presented to president Barack Obama and president-elect Donald Trump in meetings with Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, FBI Director James Comey, CIA Director John Brennan, and NSA Director Admiral Mike Rogers.[29]

On 10 January 2017, BuzzFeed was the first media outlet to publish the full 35-page dossier. In publishing the Trump dossier, BuzzFeed stated that it had been unable to verify or corroborate the allegations.[30] Trump vigorously denied the dossier’s allegations, calling it "fake news" during a press conference. Russia has also dismissed the claims.

Ynet, an Israeli online news site, reported that American intelligence advised Israeli intelligence officers to be cautious about sharing information with the incoming Trump administration, until the possibility of Russian influence over Trump, suggested by Steele's report, has been fully investigated.[31]

Another, more recent, former British ambassador to Russia, Sir Tony Brenton, read Steele's report. He told Sky News that "I've seen quite a lot of intelligence on Russia, and there are some things in it which look pretty shaky." Brenton expressed some doubts due to discrepancies in how the dossier described aspects of the hacking activities, as well as Steele's ability to penetrate the Kremlin and Russian security agencies, given that he is an outsider.[32]

Compromised identity

On 11 January 2017, The Wall Street Journal revealed that Steele was the author of the controversial dossier about Trump, citing "people familiar with the matter."[4] Although the dossier's existence had been "common knowledge" among journalists for months at that point and had become public knowledge during the previous week, Steele's name had not been revealed. The Telegraph asserted that Steele's anonymity had been "fatally compromised" after CNN published his nationality.[33]

The Independent reported that Steele had fled his home in England several hours before his name was published as the author of the dossier, as he was fearful of retaliation by Russian authorities.[33] In contrast, The Washington Post reported that he fled his home after he had been identified earlier in the day by the initial Wall Street Journal report.[34]

Steele co-founded Orbis Business Intelligence, Ltd. and was working for the company at the time the dossier was created. Orbis director Christopher Burrows would not "confirm or deny" that Orbis had produced the dossier.[35]

References

  1. ^ a b c The Diplomatic Service List. H.M. Stationery Office. 1996. p. 235. Steele, Christopher David; Second later First Secretary FCO since April 1993; born 24.6.64; FCO 1987; Second Secretary (Chancery) Moscow 1990; FCO 1987; m 1990 Laura Katharine Hunt.
  2. ^ "Farnham man identified as author of Trump dossier". Farnham Herald. Retrieved 14 January 2017.
  3. ^ "Trump dossier: Christopher Steele, ex-MI6 officer, named as author". The Guardian. 12 January 2017. Retrieved 12 January 2017.
  4. ^ a b Bradley, Hope; Rothfeld, Michael; Cullison, Alan (11 January 2017). "Christopher Steele, Ex-British Intelligence Officer, Said to Have Prepared Dossier on Trump". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 12 January 2017.
  5. ^ a b "Inside the shadowy world of Chris Whatsit: How the confirmed Cambridge socialist became the top British spy behind the Trump 'dirty dossier' that is tearing apart American, British and Russian relations". Mail Online. Retrieved 13 January 2017.
  6. ^ Dawson, Hannah (13 January 2017). "Everything we know about Christopher Steele, the Cambridge MI6 spy". The Tab. Archived from the original on 13 January 2017. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  7. ^ Parkinson, Stephen (2009). Arena of Ambition: A History of the Cambridge Union. Icon. p. 368. ISBN 1848310617.
  8. ^ Dawson, Hannah (12 January 2017). "Ex-MI6 Spy responsible for Trump dossier was President of The Cambridge Union". The Tab. Archived from the original on 12 January 2017. In 1986, Steele was President of The Cambridge Union in Easter Term. In a book 'Arena of Ambitions' on the history of The Cambridge Union, it was said that Steele was a 'confirmed socialist'. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  9. ^ The Cambridge University List of Members
  10. ^ a b c d e Rayner, Gordon (13 January 2017). "Who is Christopher Steele, the former British spy who created the Donald Trump Russia dossier?". The Telegraph. Retrieved 16 January 2017.
  11. ^ Cox, Joseph (13 January 2017). "UK Asks Journalists to Not Name Ex-Agent Allegedly Behind Trump Report". Vice News. Archived from the original on 13 January 2017. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  12. ^ "List of MI6 Officers". Cryptome. Archived from the original on 6 January 2017. Christopher David Steele: 90 Moscow; dob 1964.
  13. ^ Nick Hopkins & Luke Harding (12 January 2017). "Donald Trump dossier: intelligence sources vouch for author's credibility". The Guardian. Over a career that spanned more than 20 years, Steele performed a series of roles, but always appeared to be drawn back to Russia; he was, sources say, head of MI6's Russia desk.
  14. ^ Behar, Richard (11 January 2017). "Could This Be The British Ex-MI6 Agent Behind The Trump FBI Memos?". Forbes. Retrieved 12 January 2017. A diplomatic service list published by the British government shows that Steele, 52, was posted to the U.K.'s Moscow embassy in 1990 with the title of "Second Secretary (Chancery)." {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  15. ^ "Ex-MI6 officer Christopher Steele in hiding after Trump dossier". BBC News. 12 January 2017. Archived from the original on 12 January 2017.
  16. ^ Diplomatic Service Administration Office (1999). The Diplomatic Service List. p. 297. Steele, Christopher David; First Secretary (Financial) Paris since September 1998; born 24.6.64; FCO 1987; Second Secretary (Chancery) Moscow 1990; Second later First Secretary FCO 1993; First Secretary Bangkok 1998; m 1990 Laura Katharine Hunt (2s 1996, 1998).
  17. ^ a b Hopkins, Nick; Harding, Luke (12 January 2017). "Intelligence sources vouch for author of Russia-Trump dossier". The Irish Times. Archived from the original on 12 January 2017.
  18. ^ Hosenball, Mark (12 January 2017). "Former MI-6 spy known to U.S. agencies is author of reports on Trump in Russia". Reuters. Archived from the original on 12 January 2017. After he left the spy service, Steele supplied the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) with information on corruption at FIFA, international soccer's governing body.
  19. ^ Isikoff, Michael (11 January 2017). "The British ex-spy behind the Trump dossier was an FBI asset". Yahoo News. Archived from the original on 12 January 2017. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  20. ^ a b Rayner, Gordon (12 January 2017). "Former MI6 officer Christopher Steele, who produced Donald Trump Russian dossier, 'terrified for his safety' and went to ground before name released". The Telegraph. Retrieved 16 January 2017.
  21. ^ "Former MI6 spy known to U.S. agencies is author of reports on Trump in Russia". Reuters. 12 January 2017. Retrieved 16 January 2017.
  22. ^ a b c David Corn: A Veteran Spy Has Given the FBI Information Alleging a Russian Operation to Cultivate Donald Trump, Mother Jones, 31 October 2016
  23. ^ Corn, David (13 January 2017). "My interview with the former spy who wrote the Trump-Russia memos". Mother Jones.
  24. ^ Matt Taibbi: The Russia Story Reaches a Crisis Point, Rolling Stone, 13 January 2017
  25. ^ Goodman, Alana (13 January 2017). "Meet the D.C. espionage firm which ordered dirty dossier on Trump". Mail Online. Retrieved 16 January 2017.
  26. ^ a b c Confessore, Scott Shane, Nicholas; Rosenberg, Matthew (11 January 2017). "How a Sensational, Unverified Dossier Became a Crisis for Donald Trump". The New York Times. Retrieved 16 January 2017.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  27. ^ a b Edwards, Jim (11 January 2017). "TIMELINE: That Russian Trump blackmail dossier has been making the rounds for months — here is how it finally came to light". Business Insider. Retrieved 16 January 2017.
  28. ^ Sengupta, Kim (12 January 2017). "Revealed: former British ambassador Sir Andrew Wood's key role in Trump investigation". The Independent. Retrieved 14 January 2017.
  29. ^ Steve Robson, Christopher Bucktin, Louise Sassoon: CIA 'believes Russia has more than one Donald Trump sex tape and second source claims it DOES exist', Mirror Online, 12 January 2017
  30. ^ Masha Gessen: Lessons From Russia: Verify Everything, Don’t Publish Rumors, The New York Times, 14 January 2017
  31. ^ Ronen Bergman: US intel sources warn Israel against sharing secrets with Trump administration, Ynetnews News, 12. January 2017
  32. ^ "Trump dossier 'shaky' - former British envoy". Sky News. 13 January 2017. Retrieved 16 January 2017.
  33. ^ a b "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. 11 January 2017. Retrieved 12 January 2017.
  34. ^ Adam, Karla (12 January 2017). "This former British spy was identified as the Trump dossier source. Now he is in hiding". The Washington Post. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  35. ^ Nichols, Hans. "Former British Spy Christopher Steele Prepared Explosive Trump Memo". NBC News. Retrieved 12 January 2017.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Christopher_Steele&oldid=760731101"