Google semion mogilevich
RUSSIA đˇđş Thread: Wikileaks=FSB front, UKRAINE?, SNOWED LIED; NATO Aggression; Trump = Putins B!tch
- Thread starter âď¸#VoteDemocrat
- Start date
Christopher Steele, Ex-British Intelligence Officer, Said to Have Prepared Dossier on Trump
Former spy is director of London-based Orbis Intelligence Ltd.
By
Bradley Hope,
Michael Rothfeld and
Alan Cullison
Updated Jan. 11, 2017 4:20 p.m. ET
U.S. President-elect Donald Trump ahead of a press conference in Trump Tower on Wednesday, where he dismissed the allegations in the dossier. Photo: shannon stapleton/Reuters
A former British intelligence officer who is now a director of a private security-and-investigations firm has been identified as the author of the dossier of unverified allegations about President-elect Donald Trumpâs activities and connections in Russia, people familiar with the matter say.
Christopher Steele, a director of London-based Orbis Business Intelligence Ltd., prepared the dossier, the people said. The document alleges that the Kremlin colluded with Mr. Trumpâs presidential campaign and claims that Russian officials have compromising evidence of Mr. Trumpâs behavior that could be used to blackmail him. Mr. Trump has dismissed the dossierâs contents as false and Russia has denied the claims.
Mr. Steele, 52 years old, is one of two directors of the firm, along with Christopher Burrows, 58.
Mr. Burrows, reached at his home outside London on Wednesday, said he wouldnât âconfirm or denyâ that Orbis had produced the report. A neighbor of Mr. Steeleâs said Mr. Steele said he would be away for a few days. In previous weeks Mr. Steele has declined repeated requests for interviews through an intermediary, who said the subject was âtoo hot.â
A LinkedIn profile in Mr. Burrowsâs name says he was a counselor in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, with foreign postings in Brussels and New Delhi in the 2000s. The Foreign Office declined to comment. A LinkedIn profile for Mr. Steele doesnât give specifics about his career. Intelligence officers often use diplomatic postings as cover for their espionage activities.
Orbis Business Intelligence was formed in 2009 by former British intelligence professionals, it says on its website. U.K. corporate records say Orbis is owned by another company that in turn is jointly owned by Messrs. Steele and Burrows. It occupies offices in an ornate building overlooking Grosvenor Gardens in Londonâs high-end Belgravia neighborhood.
The firm relies on a âglobal networkâ of experts and business leaders to provide clients with strategic advice, mount âintelligence-gathering operationsâ and conduct âcomplex, often cross-border investigations,â its website says.
The office building in Londonâs upscale Belgravia neighborhood where Orbis Business Intelligence Ltd. is headquartered. Photo: Bradley Hope/The Wall Street Journal
The dossier consists of a series of unsigned memos that appear to have been written between June and December 2016. Beyond creating the document, Mr. Steele also devised a plan to get the information to law-enforcement officials in the U.S. and Europe, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation, according to a person familiar with the matter.
âWe have no political ax to grind,â Mr. Burrows said, speaking about corporate-intelligence work in general terms. He said when clients asked a firm like Orbis to investigate something, you âsee whatâs out thereâ first and later âstress testâ your findings against other evidence.
No presidential campaigns or super PACs reported payments to Orbis in their required Federal Election Commission filings. But several super PACs over the course of the campaign reported that they paid limited liability companies, whose ultimate owners may be difficult or impossible to discern.
The dossierâs emergenceâit was published online and widely circulated Tuesdayâhas generated a firestorm less than 10 days before Mr. Trumpâs inauguration. U.S. officials have examined the allegations but havenât confirmed any of them. The Wall Street Journal also hasnât corroborated any of the allegations in the dossier.
âItâs all fake news,â Mr. Trump said in a news conference Wednesday. âItâs all phony stuff. It didnât happen.â
The dossier contains lurid and hard-to-prove allegations. The FBI has found no evidence, for example, supporting the dossierâs claim that an attorney for Mr. Trump went to the Czech Republic to meet Kremlin officials, U.S. officials said. The attorney has also denied the claim.
The allegations in the document, while unsubstantiated, provoked concern in official circles in Washington. Sen. John McCain (R., Ariz.), chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said he received a copy of the document late last year and forwarded it to the FBI.
âUpon examination of the contents, and unable to make a judgment about their accuracy, I delivered the information to the director of the FBI,â Mr. McCain said.
The author of the report had a good reputation in the intelligence world and was stationed in Russia for years, said John Sipher, who retired in 2014 after 28 years in the CIAâs clandestine service, where he specialized in Russia and counterintelligence. Mr. Sipher is now director of client services at CrossLead Inc., a Washington-based technology company set up by retired U.S. Army Gen. Stanley McChrystal.
Private-intelligence firms like Orbis have a growing presence. Major corporations use them to conduct due diligence on potential business partners in risky areas, but quality control can be loose when it comes to high-level political intrigue, executives of private intelligence companies say.
âIf the head of the CIA were to declare he got information of this quality, you wouldnât believe it.â
âAndrew Wordsworth, co-founder of London-based investigations firm Raedas
When government intelligence agencies produce clandestine political reports, they often include thick sections about sources, possible motivations behind their information and the methods used to approach them. Such background helps decision makers determine how reliable the information is.
Andrew Wordsworth, co-founder of London-based investigations firm Raedas, who often works on Russian issues, said the memos in the Trump dossier were ânot convincing at all.â
âItâs just way too good,â he said. âIf the head of the CIA were to declare he got information of this quality, you wouldnât believe it.â
Mr. Wordsworth said it wouldnât make sense for Russian intelligence officials to expose state secrets to a former MI6 officer. âRussians believe once you are an agent, youâre an agent forever,â he said.
âJenny Gross and
Jason Douglas
contributed to this article.
Write to Bradley Hope at bradley.hope@wsj.com, Michael Rothfeld at michael.rothfeld@wsj.com and Alan Cullison at alan.cullison@wsj.com
THE MACHINE
night owl
Well well well 
Pssshhh fake news, he's just trying to get a job with buzzfeed
David_TheMan
Banned
Keeping that hope alive aint you. LOL
Menelik II
I wanna see receipts!
Who you believe more MI6 or orange Trump. Problem is, there nothing that can or will be done about it. You cant unscramble scrambled eggs.
Lets see
FBI agrees
CIA agrees
John McCain agrees
but according to Trump supporters its a hoax.
bless the stupid.
FBI agrees
CIA agrees
John McCain agrees
but according to Trump supporters its a hoax. bless the stupid.
Lets see
FBI agrees
CIA agrees
John McCain agrees
Agrees with what?
Well well well
Lets see
FBI agrees
CIA agrees
John McCain agrees
Looks like the guy who leaked the documents really worked for MI6!!!
Looks like the guy who leaked the documents really worked for MI6!!!
The Buzzfeed "report" last night said it was from a former British intelligence agent.
Why are you getting all hyped like you just uncovered some earth shattering news
people said this guy didn't existThe Buzzfeed "report" last night said it was from a former British intelligence agent.
Why are you getting all hyped like you just uncovered some earth shattering news
Pull Up the Roots
I have a good time when I go out of my mind..
Was revealing his identity the right thing to do?
Former MI6 officer Christopher Steele, who produced Donald Trump Russian dossier, 'terrified for his safety' and went to ground before name released
"A former MI6 officer who produced a dossier making lurid allegations about Donald Trump is âterrified for his safetyâ after he was unmasked by a US publication.
Christopher Steele, 52, fled from his home in Surrey on Wednesday morning after realising it was only a matter of time until his name became public knowledge.
A source close to Mr Steele said on Wednesday night that he now fears a prompt and potentially dangerous backlash against him from Moscow."
Former MI6 officer Christopher Steele, who produced Donald Trump Russian dossier, 'terrified for his safety' and went to ground before name released
"A former MI6 officer who produced a dossier making lurid allegations about Donald Trump is âterrified for his safetyâ after he was unmasked by a US publication.
Christopher Steele, 52, fled from his home in Surrey on Wednesday morning after realising it was only a matter of time until his name became public knowledge.
A source close to Mr Steele said on Wednesday night that he now fears a prompt and potentially dangerous backlash against him from Moscow."
