Mueller agents given UK approval to interview Christopher Steele in London over Donald Trump dossier
Christopher Steele * <https://www.telegraph.co.uk/authors/robert-mendick/> Robert Mendick, Chief Reporter * <https://www.telegraph.co.uk/authors/ben-riley-smith/> Ben Riley-Smith, US Editor 20 May 2019 9:45pm The British Government gave approval for US investigators to interview a former MI6 agent over his dossier detailing Donald Trumps alleged ties to Russia, it can be disclosed. Christopher Steele, who wrote the dossier, was interviewed in London by US officials working with Robert Mueller, the special counsel investigating Russian interference in the US presidential election. According to well-placed sources, the UK Government gave the greenlight to the officials to travel to London to record Mr Steeles testimony. Mr Steele, who ran MI6s Russia desk and had been a station chief in Moscow, has not travelled to the US since news of the existence dossier became public. Mr Steele gave detailed testimony for more than 12 hours to two counter-intelligence officers from Mr Muellers team in September 2017. The discussions were spread over two days. At the time of the meeting Mr Trump was publicly attacking the investigation into his campaigns links to Russia as a <https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/01/11/donald-trump-kremlin-blast-fabr icated-report-russian-ties-asfbi/> witch hunt led by very bad and conflicted people. The decision by the Government to authorise the visit by Muellers team suggests that officials in the UK took a more serious view of the allegations being made by the ex-MI6 chief - in marked contrast to Mr Trumps take on the dossier. Mr Steele met with the two officials - one of whom he had known from previous work, according to friends - in The Grosvenor Hotel, an upmarket hotel in central London, close to Mr Steeles company offices. How the infamous Trump dossier row unfolded June 2016 Christopher Steele is hired by Furion GPS, a research firm in Washington DC, to look into Trump ties to Russia. Fusion GPS is being paid by lawyers for Hillary Clintons campaign. July 2016 Sources begin to report back to Mr Steele about shocking allegations including that the Russians have kompromat on Mr Trump. He decides to inform the FBI. Summer/Autumn 2016 Mr Steele writes 17 memos, now known as his dossier, for Fusion GPS spelling out the intelligence in detail. He also communicates what he has found to the FBI. November 8 2016 Mr Trump unexpectedly wins the US election, defeating Mrs Clinton. Mr Steele decides his findings are a matter of national security and must be flagged to the UK government. Mid-November 2016 Around a week after the election, Mr Steele meets with Sir Charles Farr, the chair of the Joint Intelligence Committee, and takes him through his intelligence. Late November 2016 Farr and Mr Steele meet for a second time to further discuss the memos. The heads of MI6 and MI5 are briefed on the dossier around this period. January 6 2017 Mr Trump is told for the first time about the dossier in a one-on-one briefing with James Comey, then FBI director. He strenuously denies some of the key allegations. January 10 2017 Buzzfeed publishes 35 pages of Mr Steeles memos online. One part claims the Russians have a tape of Mr Trump getting prostitutes to perform a lurid sex act in a Moscow hotel room. January 11 2017 At a heated press conference Mr Trump denies the tape claim, saying he is a germaphobe, and calls Buzzfeed a failing pile of garbage for publishing the dossier. January 27 2017 Theresa May visits Washington just a week after Mr Trumps inauguration, becoming the first world leader hosted in his White House. She also offers him a UK state visit. Gathering in one of the hotels meeting rooms, Mr Steele gave a more candid description of where the allegations in his dossier had come from, according to those familiar with the meeting. The hotel was chosen amid fears that the London office of Mr Steeles company Orbis Business Intelligence could be bugged by adversaries, however low the risk. A friend of Mr Steele said: This is London not Moscow. Theres a 10 per cent chance that it is bugged but thats still 10 per cent. The friend said Mr Steele was doing his duty in briefing Muellers staff and pointed out the significance of the meeting in London being facilitated by UK authorities. Throughout the interview, which took up all of one day and much of the second day, the US officials took notes. The existence of the meeting has been reported before but not its details. The disclosure follows this newspaper <https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2019/05/19/theresa-mays-spy-chiefs-briefed -explosive-chistopher-steele/> s revelation that British spy chiefs were briefed on the dossier before Mr Trump knew of its existence, triggering a backlash from some supporters. The revelations risk deteriorating UK-US relations ahead of Mr Trumps state visit next month. Mr Steele gave a copy of the dossier, containing 17 separate memos, to Sir Charles Farr, who was one of Theresa Mays most trusted security advisers, in November 2016, about a week after Mr Trump was elected president. The dossier was then passed up the chain to the heads of MI5 and MI6, according to sources. Mr Trump only became aware of Mr Steeles dossier, which included an allegation strenuously denied by Mr Trump that he hired prostitutes to perform a lurid sex act in a Moscow hotel, in January 2017 when alerted by the FBI before taking office. Sebastian Gorka, the former deputy assistant to the president in Mr Trumps White House, criticised British intelligence services over their handling of the Steele dossier. Mr Gorka told The Daily Telegraph: Heads must roll politically in the UK if we are to have any hope of salvaging the special relationship. Approached with details of the meeting, a spokesman for the special counsels office declined to comment. EM -> { Trump for 2020 } On the 49th Parallel Thé Mulindwas Communication Group "With Yoweri Museveni, Ssabassajja and Dr. Kiiza Besigye, Uganda is in anarchy" Kuungana Mulindwa Mawasiliano Kikundi "Pamoja na Yoweri Museveni, Ssabassajja na Dk. Kiiza Besigye, Uganda ni katika machafuko"
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