Former spy reported to be behind dossier on Trump nowhere to be seen

Members of the press at the entrance to the building housing the offices of business consultants Orbis Business Intelligence in London on January 12, 2017. An unsubstantiated report on United States President-elect Donald Trump's ties to Russia was authored by former British spies now working at the company, The Wall Street Journal said on January 11. PHOTO | DANIEL LEAL-OLIVAS | AFP

What you need to know:

  • Near Christopher Steele’s red-brick home in a sleepy village outside London, neighbour Mike Hopper told AFP he had left on Wednesday and asked him to feed the family’s three cats while he was away.

  • No car could be seen on the gravel yard in front of the home of Steele, reported by the Daily Telegraph and Wall Street Journal to be a former officer for Britain’s MI6 foreign intelligence service.

The former British spy reported to be behind a dossier of unsubstantiated allegations against US President-elect Donald Trump was nowhere to be seen today after the explosive claims became public.

Near Christopher Steele’s red-brick home in a sleepy village outside London, neighbour Mike Hopper told AFP he had left on Wednesday and asked him to feed the family’s three cats while he was away.

No car could be seen on the gravel yard in front of the home of Steele, reported by the Daily Telegraph and Wall Street Journal to be a former officer for Britain’s MI6 foreign intelligence service.

The gate outside was also locked shut. “I’ve not seen any of the family since yesterday,” Hopper said, adding: “It’s not the sort of thing you expect to hear, international news of importance like that in an area like this.” “I had no inkling whatsoever,” he said. The Telegraph quoted a source close to Steele saying he was “horrified” when his nationality was published on Wednesday, prior to his naming in US media.

The source said Steele was now “terrified for his and his family’s safety” after the publication of the dossier, which said Russia had plotted to build ties with Trump and had lurid sex footage involving him.

Mr Trump has strongly denied the allegations, condemning them as “fake news”. In the marble-fronted building near Buckingham Palace where Steele has an office, a receptionist told AFP: “Nobody is coming today.” Mr Steele has been a director since 2009 at Orbis, a company based in central London that describes itself as “a leading corporate intelligence consultancy”.

Asked about the reports at a daily press briefing, Prime Minister Theresa May’s spokeswoman said: “In all the reporting I have seen of this, it relates to a former employee.”

Asked whether the government was helping Steele in his efforts to escape attention, she said: “I think there is a standard process that is followed with regard to the naming of people that have worked in certain roles in the civil service, be they serving or former roles.”

After leaving MI6, Steele worked with the FBI on corruption at FIFA, international football’s governing body, lending credence to his report on Trump.