But the story of what UK intelligence leaders knew is revealed for the first in tomorrow’s @Telegraph. Story with @rmendick.
Among them - that Trump campaign figures had secretly met Russians, the Kremlin was trying to tilt the election + there was “kompromat” on the candidate himself (always denied).
But after Trump’s shock win, he decided the claims he uncovered were now an issue of British national security.
It was time to approach the UK government...
The venue was Farr’s detached house on a suburban street in Wimbledon, South London - an incongruous venue given what they were to discuss.
After their meeting, Farr reached a conclusion - the dossier had to go up the chain of command.
MI5 director general Andrew Parker and MI6 chief Alex Younger are both understood to have been briefed.
The PM was used to receiving classified intel from her Home Office days. She is likely to have been aware of Steele’s work from the Litvinenko inquest.
But also, she needed to build a relationship with Trump...
But Number 10 figures say categorically that she was not briefed on the dossier.
Exactly why the intel chiefs shielded May from the claims is not known.
(To repeat, the reason is not known.)
Just a few days later, on Jan 10, Buzzfeed published the whole thing. Everyone could read the dossier for themselves.
She praised his “stunning” election victory. She also delivered an invite from the Queen for a state visit.
He takes up that offer next month.
One, it suggests British intel figures treated the Steele dossier with gravity, escalating it rapidly up the system.
That is in marked contrast to Trump’s position, which is that the dossier is “fake” and “phony”.
Trump has tweeted criticism of Steele + his dossier more than 50 times in office. He’s also tweeted a claim that British intel services helped spy on his campaign.
What will he think of them knowing about the dossier before him?
News report: telegraph.co.uk/news/2019/05/1…
Colour read about how it all played out: telegraph.co.uk/news/2019/05/1…