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Steele-rapporten
Wikipedia (en)
The Steele dossier, also known as the Trump–Russia dossier, is a controversial political opposition research report written from June to December 2016, containing allegations of misconduct, conspiracy, and cooperation between Donald Trump's presidential campaign and the government of Russia prior to and during the 2016 election campaign. Five years later, it was described as "largely discredited", "deeply flawed", and "largely unverified". Some aspects of the dossier have been corroborated, namely that Vladimir Putin favored Trump over Hillary Clinton, and that many Trump campaign officials and associates had numerous secretive contacts with Russian officials and spies.The dossier, leaked by BuzzFeed News in January 2017, without its author's permission, is an unfinished 35-page compilation of raw intelligence based on information from initially anonymous sources known to the author, counterintelligence specialist Christopher Steele. Steele, a former head of the Russia Desk for British intelligence (MI6), was writing the report for the private investigative firm Fusion GPS, who were paid by Hillary Clinton's campaign and the Democratic National Committee (DNC). The dossier's 17 reports allege that Trump campaign members and Russian operatives had conspired to cooperate in Russia's election interference to benefit Trump. It also alleges that Russia sought to damage Hillary Clinton's candidacy. BuzzFeed's decision to publish the reports without verifying their allegations was criticized by journalists and defended by a court ruling.In June 2016, Fusion GPS subcontracted Steele's firm to compile the dossier. DNC officials denied knowing their attorney had contracted with Fusion GPS, and Steele asserted he was not aware the Clinton campaign was the recipient of his research until months after he contracted with Fusion GPS. While compiling the dossier, Steele passed some of his findings to both British and American intelligence services.The intelligence community and most experts have treated the dossier with caution due to its unverified allegations, that Trump denounced as fake news. The U.S. intelligence community took the allegations seriously, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) investigated every line of the dossier and identified and spoke with at least two of Steele's sources. The Mueller Report contained passing references to some of the dossier's allegations but little mention of its more sensational claims.Many allegations in the dossier have been dismissed by authorities or remain unverified. While the dossier played a central role in the seeking of FISA warrants on Carter Page, it did not play any role in the intelligence community's assessment about Russian actions in the 2016 election, and it was not the trigger for the opening of the Russia investigation into whether the Trump campaign was coordinating with the Russian government's interference in the 2016 presidential election. The dossier is a factor in several conspiracy theories promoted by Trump and his supporters in the media and Congress.