Trump's 'Russian dossier' what we know and what we don't
From BBC News
The latest - and perhaps most headline-grabbing - source of tension between Donald Trump and the US intelligence community is an unverified report, apparently compiled by a private intelligence firm, claiming Russia has gathered compromising data about the president-elect.
Those claims raise far more questions than they answer. Here is a summary of what we know so far.
Who wrote the report and why?
It has been widely attributed to Christopher Steele, a retired British intelligence officer.
Mr Steele, who runs a London-based intelligence firm, was reportedly hired by anti-Trump Republicans to investigate Mr Trump's ties to Russia during the battle for the party's presidential nomination. In the general election campaign the research was funded by an anonymous Democratic donor.
But since Mr Steele has been in hiding since the report surfaced on Tuesday, there is no confirmation that he is the author.
What does the report say?
It consists of a series of memos dated from June to December, and said to be based on information from members of the Russian intelligence community.
It claims that Russian officials have cultivated Mr Trump for at least five years to encourage splits within the Western alliance, and shared intelligence information with him.
More
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-38612066
