Investigators working for Special Counsel Robert Mueller reportedly met with the British spy who compiled the controversial dossier on President Donald Trump that included the now-infamous “pee tape” allegations.
Christopher Steele, who crafted the dossier, “recently” met with Mueller, according to reports. Mueller is heading the Justice Department’s investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election and other related matters.
The dossier has been called “fake news” and “totally made up stuff” by Trump and his supporters. It includes assertions that members of the Trump campaign met with operatives for the Russian government and several graphic details about sexual acts involving Trump.
Earlier this week, the Senate Intelligence Committee said it had attempted to meet with Steele as part of its separate Russia probe but had thus far been unable to contact him.
“The committee cannot really decide the credibility of the dossier without understanding things like who paid for it, who are your sources and sub-sources,” Sen. Richard Burr (R-N.C.) and chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee said at a press conference on Wednesday.
While elements of the dossier–including the “pee tape”– have not been verified, much of the assertions that Russia interfered in the 2016 election has been accepted by the intelligence community and the various groups investigating it.
The dossier was originally intended to be opposition research, according to CNN, which first reported that Mueller had met with Steele. It was originally funded by anti-Trump Republicans during the 2016 primaries, but “Democrats started picking up the tab once Trump became the presumptive nominee in the spring,” the news organization reports.