Trump dossier spy now ‘in hiding’
● Former MI6 officer Christopher Steele left home on Wednesday
The former British intelligence officer who is believed to have compiled the explosive dossier alleging Russia holds incriminating material on president-elect Donald Trump has gone into hiding, it has been claimed.
Christopher Steele, a retired MI6 officer, has been identified as the author of the report which detailed a series of contentious and lurid claims concerning the billionaire’s personal life and ties between his staff and the Kremlin.
It is understood Mr Steele originally compiled for report on behalf of Mr Trump’s political opponents in the US, but left his Surrey home earlier this week once press reports began to circulate about its contents.
As the fallout continued over the dossier, which casts a shadow over Mr Trump’s pending administration just a week before he is due to be sworn in as president, Russia escalated the row by claiming that Mr Steele may still be working for British intelligence.
A posting on the official Twitter feed of the Russian embassy in London said MI6 officers were “never ex”.
Posted over a picture showing three question marks, it said the dossier, which claimed Mr Trump’s staff were
0 Donald Trump strongly attacked the alleged dossier during his controversial press conference in contact with Moscow in the run-up to the US presidential election, was “briefing both ways” – against Russia and the president-elect.
Downing Street refused to be drawn on whether the UK government had offered any assistance to Mr Steele, who was reported to be in fear for his life after being named in US media reports.
Prime Minister Theresa May’s official spokeswoman confirmed there was a “standard process” for supporting current and former holders of sensitive government posts whose identities became public.
Asked whether she could offer an assurance that the UK government had no involvement in the creation of the dossier, she said: “Nothing I have seen suggests that,” adding the media reports all related to a “former employee”.
The latest claims came after a furious Mr Trump denounced the claims in the dossier as “fake news” during a tumultuous press conference in New York on Wednesday.
There was no sign of Mr Steele at his home in the village of Runfold, near Farnham in Surrey, where neighbours said he had been living with his wife and four children for 18 months. Next-door neighbour Mike Hopper said Mr Steele left on Wednesday. “He did not say where he was going or when he was coming back,” he said.