British spy chiefs were told about Steele dossier before Trump was briefed

The leaders of MI5 and MI6, the United Kingdom’s top intelligence agencies, were briefed about British ex-spy Christopher Steele’s dossier shortly after 2016 election, learning about its salacious and unverified claims about President-elect Trump’s ties to Russia before the incoming commander in chief was told about them, according to a new report.

Sources told the Telegraph that Steele, an MI6 officer from 1987 until 2009 and former head of the MI6’s Russia desk, met with Charles Farr, also a former MI6 officer and then the chairman of the U.K.’s Joint Intelligence Committee, after Trump won the presidency. Farr died in February of this year.