The FBI on Friday released dozens of documents related to the bureau’s relationship with former British intelligence officer Christopher Steele, who compiled the infamous Trump dossier.
The 71 pages are heavily redacted and contain mostly payment requests and receipts. The documents also confirm the FBI terminated its relationship with Steele after he leaked information to the press about the dossier on President Trump.
“[Confidential Human Source] confirmed to an outside third party that CHS has a confidential relationship with the FBI,” the document states. “In the article, CHS revealed CHS’ relationship with the FBI as well as information that CHS obtained and provided to FBI.”
“On November 1, 2016, CHS confirmed all of this to the handling agent,” the document continues. “Additionally, handling agent advised that CHS was not to operate to obtain any intelligence whatsoever on behalf of the FBI.”
Steele’s name does not appear in any of the unredacted portions of the documents, though the FBI labeled the file “Records Between FBI and Christopher Steele Part 01 of 01.”
Another mostly redacted page says Steele was “verbally admonished” in February. No other details about why he was reprimanded were made public in the documents.
Steele was hired by political research Fusion GPS during the presidential campaign to conduct research on then-candidate Trump. It was revealed in October 2017 that the Clinton campaign and Democratic National Committee had paid for the research that led to the dossier. The dossier eventually was handed over to the FBI, which used it to obtain warrants to surveil Trump aide Carter Page.
Many of the claims in the dossier, which contains salacious details about Trump’s trip to Moscow in 2013, have yet to be substantiated.
