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. To Democrats and President Donald Trump’s critics, the documents tell a story that could amount to treason.
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. 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.
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.
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.
Contacts between Trump’s team and Russians
The dossier contains allegations against several of Trump’s campaign officials and associates of having secret contacts with Russians during the campaign. 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.
Steele’s memos lay out specific meetings that haven’t been corroborated. But his claim that there was regular contact between Trump’s campaign and Russians has held up over time. When he wrote his memos in 2016, hardly any of these contacts were publicly known. They have since been revealed in Mueller’s court filings, countless news reports and testimony on Capitol Hill.
Trump and his associates who were named in the dossier continue to vehemently deny any collusion.
Russian meddling in the 2016 election
Steele, a former MI6 intelligence operative, has a history of working with US agencies, including the FBI, and helped with the corruption investigation into FIFA, the world soccer governing body. Steele’s dossier eventually made its way to the FBI, which cross-referenced Steele’s work with its own burgeoning investigation into Russian meddling.
Even Putin has seemingly endorsed the conclusion that he favored Trump’s candidacy. Asked during his summit with Trump last year in Helsinki, Finland, if he wanted Trump to win the election, Putin responded: “Yes, I did. Yes, I did. Because he talked about bringing the US-Russia relationship back to normal.”
The dossier also noted efforts from the Russian government to exploit political divisions within the US and the Democratic Party after the bruising primary fight between Clinton and Sen. Bernie Sanders. A separate Mueller indictment dealt with disinformation efforts by a Kremlin-linked troll farm that played on those divisions. Since the 2016 election, social media companies have pulled thousands of accounts tied to Russia.
Trump’s real estate dealings in Russia
The dossier claimed that the Russians tried to influence Trump by offering him “sweetener” real estate deals, in hopes of drawing him closer to Moscow. The specific details about these purported deals haven’t been corroborated, but the dossier said Trump declined these offers.
Throughout the campaign, Trump said he had “nothing to do with Russia.” When the dossier was first published, there wasn’t any indication that Trump’s company was involved in Russia beyond the Miss Universe pageant that he hosted in Moscow in 2013.
Potential Russian leverage on Trump
The most sensational claim in the dossier memos is that Trump was involved with prostitutes while he stayed at The Ritz-Carlton in Moscow during his trip there for the 2013 Miss Universe pageant — and that the Russians had this blackmail, or kompromat, on Trump.
Nothing has come to light to corroborate that allegation, and Trump has denied that it happened. “Does anyone really believe that story?” Trump said in January 2017. “I’m also very much of a germaphobe.”
But not all leverage needs to be salacious in nature. The dossier included claims that Russian intelligence had compromising financial information about Trump.
Michael Cohen’s alleged trip to Prague
There still isn’t any public evidence to confirm the explosive claim from the dossier that Cohen secretly met Russian officials in Prague to coordinate Kremlin interference in the election and do damage control if the alleged collusion was exposed or if Clinton won.
He has cooperated with Mueller, and prosecutors said in a court filing he provided “useful information concerning certain discrete Russia-related matters core to its investigation.” Cohen says he has shared “everything” with Mueller and that the Prague claims are false.
Michael Flynn’s paid trip to Moscow
Another allegation that’s proven true: Steele’s sources noted that the Russian government had indirectly paid Michael Flynn to travel to Moscow, a reference to his attendance at a 2015 gala honoring the state-run broadcaster RT.
Flynn, who later advised Trump’s campaign and was briefly Trump’s national security adviser, denied during the campaign that he received any payments from Russia.
Carter Page’s meetings with Russians
Page traveled to Russia in July 2016 for what he said was a personal trip. Steele wrote that Page met the president of Rosneft, a state-run oil company, and discussed a potential deal for Trump to lift US sanctions in exchange for future energy cooperation between the two countries. Steele’s intelligence on Page’s visit also includes sources claiming the Russians raised the prospect of political dirt with Page, dirt they had on both Clinton and Trump.
Page said he spoke with Andrey Baranov, Rosneft’s head of investor relations. But he said he doesn’t recall any conversation with Baranov about sanctions. They made plans to meet up, Page said, because they were friends when he worked in Russia as an energy consultant.
Source : CNN