Update: apparently Christopher Steele was not the only ex-spook doing research on Trumpian adventures and corruption.
The Reuters news agency, citing former British intelligence officials, said Steele spent years working for MI6 in Russia and Paris, and at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in London.
After leaving MI6 he supplied the FBI with information on corruption at Fifa, international soccer’s governing body. In the summer of 2010, according to emails cited by Reuters, members of a New York-based FBI squad assigned to investigate “Eurasian Organised Crime” met Steele in London to discuss the Fifa allegations. His company assisted football governing bodies in their investigations, Reuters said.
In the US presidential campaign Steele was initially hired by a Washington DC political research firm, to investigate Trump on behalf of Republicans opposed to his candidacy. He was kept on the assignment after Trump won the nomination and his information was circulated to Democratic party figures and members of the media, Reuters said.
Eventually he began dealing with the FBI regarding the dossier, sources told Reuters, but he became frustrated at the bureau’s slow progress and cut off contact. The material then circulated in political and media circles before ultimately making its way into the public domain.
so much for state secrets...
Defence and Security Media Advisory Notice guidance on the public disclosure of the names of members of the UK Intelligence Agencies (The Security Service MI5, the Secret Intelligence Service MI6 and GCHQ) asks editors and journalists not to disclose (without first seeking DSMA advice) ‘the identities, whereabouts and tasks of people who are or have been employed by these services or engaged on such work, including details of their families and home addresses, and any other information, including photographs, which could assist terrorist or other hostile organisations to identify a target’.
In view of media stories alleging that a former SIS officer was the source of the information which allegedly compromises President-Elect Donald Trump, would you and your journalists please seek my advice before making public that name.
Irrespective of the whether or not the stories are true, the public disclosure of that name would put the personal security of that individual directly at risk.
Sincerely,
Andrew Vallance
Air Vice-Marshal
Defence and Security Media Advisory Secretariat