On January 11, 2017, local time, in New York, the United States, President-elect Trump held his first press conference after winning the election. Photo/Visual China
Many in the intelligence community believe that the compiler Steele is "quite reliable"; Trump and the director of national intelligence responded differently to the matter
After an intelligence report about the possibility that US President-elect Donald Trump may be controlled by Russia was disclosed, the so-called "black material" incident has become the focus of attention in the political circles and even intelligence circles of western countries such as the United States and the United Kingdom. On the one hand, Trump resolutely denied the authenticity of "black material" at the press conference on the 11th, and criticized the media reports on "fake news"; on the other hand, many people in the intelligence community spoke out in support of Steele, believing that although the content of the "black material" report is difficult to determine, but many years of intelligence records show that Steele is a "fairly reliable person".
British media broke the news on the 12th that Christopher Steele, a former agent of michila 6 who compiled the main content of this secret report, has "run away".
Intelligence record Steele "reputable"
The Guardian quoted a former Foreign Office official as saying that he had known Steele for 25 years and regarded him as an "experienced" and "prestigious" professional intelligence officer.
"There is an idea that his (Steele's) report is a forgery ... This claim is completely untrue, and he is not the kind of person who will easily spread rumors," the former official said, "and if he writes something into the report, it must be that he thinks it has sufficient credibility or is worthy of attention... If things are not reliable, it is difficult for him to work in this industry for so long. ”
British media reported that Steele was a graduate student at Cambridge University, had previously focused on Soviet affairs, and had worked as a diplomat in Russia in the 1990s under the cover of diplomats. Since then, Steele has changed jobs a lot, but the business is still related to Russia.
A number of British intelligence sources told the Guardian that it is precisely because of their intelligence capabilities on Russia-related issues that Steele and his investigation company "Orbis Business Intelligence" have become the best choice for political opponents to collect "black material" for Trump's relationship with Russia.
Assuming that the "black material" incident is true, Steele, who has not been to Russia for 20 years, is unlikely to have direct contact with Russian sources, but may play a role through his intelligence network that has been deeply cultivated and continued in Russia, such as entrusting the investigation to intelligence intermediaries in Moscow, and then obtaining strong information through security channels.
Former British foreign office officials said the intelligence was not necessarily evidence and could go wrong. In the "psychedelic realm" of intelligence work, it is difficult to be sure of anything. However, "the strongest evidence of the credibility of this [black material' report is that the professional intelligence agencies in the United States also take the report seriously, and they are fully persuaded by the credibility record of the report's authors that these contents are worth reporting to the president (Obama) and the president-elect (Trump) himself."
Trump and the director of national intelligence have said it differently
After US President-elect Trump refuted the news about "black material" on the 11th, he had a phone call with National Intelligence Director James Clapper. The two men afterwards issued statements about the contents of the call, but the statements differed on the issue of the "black material" report.
Clapper said in a statement that he expressed "uneasiness" to Trump about the report being exposed by the media, but believed that the report was not leaked by US intelligence. Clapper also stressed to Trump that U.S. intelligence has not yet judged whether the report is credible. The media noted that Clapper did not confirm whether the report was false.
However, Trump's statement on Twitter on the 12th said that Clapper "agreed" with his statement that the report was not true.
"James Clapper called me yesterday to denounce the illegal circulation of this false report," Trump said, "it's all fabricated, false content, it's so bad!" ”
For the different interpretations of senior intelligence officials and the president-elect, Adam Schiff, a democrat and senior member of the US House of Representatives Intelligence Committee, believes that trump's "tweets" or statements cannot be relied on to understand the real situation of the call, "If people really want to know what Director Clapper said to Trump, don't look at Trump's 'Twitter', you should go to Clap's statement." ”
The lights were not turned off away from home
According to the British "Daily Mail" report, Steele has driven away from the residence in Surrey county in the southeast of the United Kingdom on the 11th, and he left in a hurry, and the lights in his home were not turned off. A security source said Steele left for "fear of physical threats" and may now be heading overseas.
The British "Daily Telegraph" quoted Steele's neighbor as saying that Steele asked the neighbor to help take care of the cat when he left, claiming to be out for "a few days". "I'm not sure where he went or how to contact him," the neighbor said.
■ Characters
British media revealed that Steele was employed by Trump's opponents
British media reported that during the US presidential election, Christopher Steele was hired by a number of Trump opponents to dig up this "fierce material" when collecting and sorting out negative news about Trump.
British media reported that Steele, 52, had worked as a diplomat in Russia and France as a cover for intelligence work. Since then, Steele has also worked in the Uk Foreign affairs and Commonwealth Office. Right now, Steele is the owner of Orbis Business Intelligence. The company was founded in 2009 and is based in London, the capital of the United Kingdom. The company's website description says it can "tailor solutions for customers" in politics, multilateral diplomacy and international commerce.
According to Reuters, a political research firm previously hired Steele to investigate Trump for a number of U.S. Republicans and gather negative information about him in order to prevent Trump from obtaining the presidential nomination within the Republican Party. After Trump won the Republican presidential nomination, Steele was hired to continue the investigation, and Trump's "black material" also reached Democrats and the media.
According to the BBC, Steele was initially employed by former Florida Governor jeb Bush, a Republican who was one of Trump's fierce rivals in the Republican primary.
Reuters reported that in July 2016 Steele and the FBI began working together to investigate Trump. But a month before the presidential election, Steele and the FBI broke off contact because the latter slowed down the investigation, disappointing Steele.
■ Extension
"Black material" has added to the obstruction of the British prime minister's future visit to the United States
According to the Daily Mail, Steele's "black material" report was transmitted to AMERICAN politicians through a former British ambassador to Russia.
According to CNN reporter Carl Bernstein, who originally reported on the "black material" report, Republican lawmaker John McCain obtained the material from a former British ambassador to Russia in 2016. It is not known who the former ambassador was.
However, Tim Barrow, the current British ambassador to the European Union, is the most "suspicious" at the moment, and he and Steele intersected more than 20 years ago. The Daily Mail reported that a list of British diplomats in Russia showed Steele working at the British Embassy in Russia from 1990 to 1993 as second secretary. During the same period, Barrow also worked at the embassy and was "in the same office" as Steele.
The report said Barrow had told his boss at the British Foreign Office that he had "no connection" with the "black material" leak.
Sources said Steele also copied a copy of the "black material" and handed it to the "old owner" MI6 of the United Kingdom.
The "black material" incident involved former intelligence officials of british government departments, which really "added to the blockage" of British Prime Minister Theresa May, who was about to visit the United States. A spokesman for the Prime Minister's Office said the British government was unaware that the material involved former British intelligence officials and would not comment because it would undermine the relationship between Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson and Trump's team.
On the 8th, Johnson flew to the United States to meet with the Trump team to prepare for May's visit to the United States. Trump posted on social media Twitter on the same day that he was very much looking forward to meeting with Theresa May, "The United Kingdom is a long-term ally of the United States, which is very special." In response, May responded in an interview that the Relationship between the United Kingdom and the United States is much greater than the personal relationship between the President of the United States and the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, and that the "special relationship" between the United Kingdom and the United States is important, and "I feel optimistic and positive about this relationship". Comprehensive Xinhua News Agency