His oral briefing with Steele at Orbis' office would later make up the contours of 'Report 080' - the first entry of the dossier, which leveled stunning accusations about a conspiracy between the Trump campaign and the Kremlin. He later told the FBI that he never kept written or electronic notes, as doing so posed a security risk. Within weeks of receiving his 'tasking' from Steele, the collector had traveled to Russia and returned to London. MORE: Comey says he believes the source of the Steele ‘dossier’ to be 'credible' Steele refused to acknowledge the man as his primary 'collector.' A collector, Steele explained, is 'somebody who obviously works for us directly, is paid for us directly - doesn't necessarily have direct access to information but knows people who do.' Lindsey Graham released the transcript of an FBI interview with the source, who was later identified as a Washington-based think tank analyst. One of those sources, whom Steele later described to the FBI as a 'prolific asset,' was outed in 2020 after Republican U.S. 'We were, at the end of the day, looking at Russia as we always did similar sources that we'd used before,' Steele said. Steele had previously probed Russian interference in various European elections as part of an investigation called Project Charlemagne.

Petersburg Foreign Affairs department at the time. Petersburg, that we actually met Vladimir Putin,' Steele said. 'There is a possibility that in 1992, when I took a delegation of senior officials to St. Steele said he believes the two may have even crossed paths. As an officer with MI6, the British intelligence service, he watched the authoritarian leader rise through the ranks. Steele had spent decades studying Russia and its enigmatic leader, Vladimir Putin. It was Russia's growing interest in meddling in Western politics that intrigued him. That Donald Trump was involved 'didn't play into' their decision, Steele said. Ultimately the two agreed to accept the work. Others, we decide, are beyond the pale because of the nature of the client. 'Some of them are clear-cut, fairly standard projects which don't require a great deal of debate. 'There's always a debate on every project that we take on,' said Steele. The 'dossier' takes shapeĪfter meeting with Simpson, Steele and his business partner at Orbis Business Intelligence, Christopher Burrows, discussed the risks associated with taking on such a potentially sensitive project. Out of the Shadows: The Man Behind the Steele Dossier' is available Monday, October 18, on Hulu. 'Because the vitriol and the things that people have said about us and our motivations and our work are so far-fetched and untrue, I thought it was important to come and set the record straight.' 'It's not at all usual for me to be in the public eye, but we've been there for five years,' Steele said. But details of how Steele gathered the intelligence, and the personal toll of its fallout, have remained shrouded. The salacious claims in the so-called 'Steele dossier' - involving sex, spies, and scandal - are well known by now. Over the course of the next six months, Steele would file 17 memos to Fusion GPS and its client, a law firm representing the Democratic National Committee and Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign. MORE: Behind the dossier: Steele dismisses James Bond comparisons - but dossier did leave his life shaken, stirred

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