When the memos spilled into public view, Trump and at least five other senior administration officials denied in emphatic and often sweeping terms that anyone involved in the campaign was in contact with Russians. Steele’s raw intelligence reports cited unnamed sources alleging these communications were part of a widespread effort to collude on the election and secure the White House for Trump. The dossier contains allegations against several of Trump’s campaign officials and associates of having secret contacts with Russians during the campaign. While the Steele dossier is largely known for one or two key unsavory details, here’s the full rundown of how Steele’s work holds up with what we now know about Trump’s team, their contacts with Russians and Russian election meddling.Ĭontacts between Trump’s team and Russians The most salacious claims in the dossier remain unproven two years after it first burst into the public conversation, but many of the allegations that form the bulk of the intelligence memos have held up over time, or have proven to be at least partially true. CNN did not publish the dossier, because of its unverified status, but BuzzFeed soon posted all the memos online “so that Americans can make up their own minds.” Days later, CNN broke the story of that briefing and reported that the FBI was investigating the accuracy of the allegations. It was two years ago, January 6, 2017, that then-FBI Director James Comey briefed President-elect Trump about some details from the dossier. Trump has said the memos are “phony” and full of lies, and has pointed out that the project was funded by his political opponents, including Hillary Clinton’s campaign. To Trump and some of his loudest defenders, the dossier was flawed from its inception, abused by the FBI to pursue an investigation into Trump’s team that preceded the appointment of special counsel Robert Mueller. To Democrats and President Donald Trump’s critics, the documents tell a story that could amount to treason. The controversial 35 pages of intelligence memos compiled by retired British spy Christopher Steele paint a picture of widespread conspiracy of collusion between the Trump campaign and the Russian government. It’s a document that became so famous - or infamous - in the two years since its existence was reported that it’s now known by a simple two-word phrase: the dossier.
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