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What is the Steele Dossier and who commissioned it?
Executive summary
The Steele dossier is a collection of unverified intelligence memos compiled in 2016 by former British intelligence officer Christopher Steele while working for Orbis Business Intelligence; it contained allegations about Donald Trump’s ties to Russia and was circulated among journalists, intelligence officials and lawmakers [1] [2]. Fusion GPS — an opposition research firm — retained Steele’s services after being paid by the Hillary Clinton campaign and the Democratic National Committee through law firm Perkins Coie, which handled payments to Fusion GPS, according to multiple accounts and reporting [3] [4].
1. What the dossier is — a file of unverified intelligence memos
The document popularly called the “Steele dossier” consists of dozens of memos Steele produced in 2016 summarizing raw, often uncorroborated intelligence from sources about alleged links between Trump, his associates, and Russian actors; U.S. intelligence agencies later concluded Russia interfered in the 2016 election, but many of the dossier’s more sensational claims remain unproven or were discredited [1] [2] [5].
2. Who compiled it — Christopher Steele and Orbis
Christopher Steele, a former MI6 officer with a background covering Russia, compiled the memos under his consultancy Orbis Business Intelligence; news organizations identified Steele early in 2017 as the author and reported he feared for his safety after the memos became public [1].
3. Who commissioned the work — Fusion GPS, paid via Perkins Coie for Democratic clients
Opposition research firm Fusion GPS hired Steele’s firm and paid him to produce the memos; Fusion GPS itself was retained by the law firm Perkins Coie, which billed the Democratic National Committee and the Clinton campaign for services that included the Fusion/Steele work, according to reporting and Fusion GPS’s own statements about fees and payments [3] [4].
4. Timeline and scale of the work
Steele produced multiple reports in mid-to-late 2016 (16 memos plus a later addition is frequently cited), and Fusion GPS paid Steele’s firm for that output; some accounts quantify payments between Fusion and Orbis and note Perkins Coie’s role as the intermediary handling client billing [3].
5. How it entered public and official awareness
After being circulated among journalists, intelligence and congressional figures, the dossier was published in full by BuzzFeed in early 2017, prompting denials from Trump and Russia and prompting wide journalistic efforts to verify its claims; contemporaneous reporting documents both its circulation and the ensuing verification attempts [1] [3].
6. Use and dispute in government probes
Portions of the dossier were provided to U.S. intelligence agencies and reportedly informed some early investigative steps in the FBI’s Russia probe; critics argue it improperly influenced investigations, while defenders note intelligence agencies routinely evaluate raw reporting from many sources — a debate reflected in official reviews and congressional scrutiny [2] [3].
7. Credibility and legal outcomes — contested and mixed
Many dossier claims were never corroborated and some were later discredited; courts and commentators have differed in assessments — for example, reporting notes that the dossier’s credibility “collapsed” in some accounts and that legal challenges related to its publication and claims produced mixed results [3] [5]. Public figures and watchdogs continue to litigate and investigate aspects of how the dossier was funded and handled [6] [7].
8. Political framing and competing narratives
Conservative outlets and commentators frame the dossier as a politically motivated falsification that was used to damage Trump and improperly influence investigators; other analysts and some mainstream outlets argue the dossier was one piece of raw intelligence among many and that the larger question is how agencies and media weighed and verified it [8] [9] [10]. Recent political moves — such as executive actions targeting Perkins Coie and ongoing congressional probes — reflect how the dossier has remained a live political issue [4] [6].
9. Limitations of reporting and unresolved questions
Available sources show who paid Fusion GPS and that Fusion paid Steele, and they describe circulation and disputed use of the memos, but many specific factual claims within the dossier itself remain unverified or contested in the public record; available sources do not mention every alleged detail and independent verification of the dossier’s salacious assertions is limited or absent in current reporting [3] [2] [5].
10. Bottom line for readers
The Steele dossier is best understood as opposition-funded, raw intelligence reporting compiled by Christopher Steele and circulated to officials and journalists in 2016; its funding chain traces back through Fusion GPS to Perkins Coie and Democratic clients, while its substantive allegations remain, in many cases, unproven — a mix that has produced enduring political controversy and continued legal and congressional scrutiny [3] [1] [4].