Who Is Christopher Steele? Former British Intelligence Officer Allegedly Prepared Dossier On Trump, Reports Say

The British intelligence officer who reportedly prepared a dossier filled with allegations about President-elect Donald Trump now works for a private security-and-investigations firm, according to reports. Christopher Steele, the 52-year-old director of London’s Oribis Business Intelligence Ltd., is reportedly responsible for preparing the 35-page document handed over to U.S. Intelligence agencies and published this week by Buzzfeed, sources close to the issue told Wall Street Journal Wednesday.

Steele works with another director at the firm, Christopher Burrows, 58, who would not “confirm or deny” Steele or Orbis’ involvement in the dossier to WSJ. When the news organization tried to reach Steele at his home outside of London, neighbors said he would be away for a few days. Steele has reportedly denied such reports in the past, which another source told WSJ was because the issue at hand was “too hot.”

Orbis was founded in 2009 by former British intelligence members, according to the company’s website. U.K. records said the firm was once owned by another company, which was jointly owned by Messrs, Steele and Burrows, WSJ reported. The firm specializes in “intelligence-gathering operations” and works within a “global network” of business leaders around the world to provide “complex, often cross-border investigations.”

Trump has denied the accusations in the unverified report, which contained information Russians were reportedly using to conspire against the president-elect, including claims that he allegedly paid Russian prostitutes to urinate on a hotel bed that President Barak Obama and his wife, Michelle Obama, once slept on at an upscale Moscow hotel. Russia has also reportedly denied the claims cited in the dossier.

“It’s all fake news,” Trump said at his first press conference in New York City Wednesday. “It’s all phony stuff. It didn’t happen.”

Steele allegedly compiled the information in the document on the behalf of a political and corporate research firm, who reportedly had clients who were political opponents of Trump.