Christopher Steele Defends Debunked Dossier — ‘I Stand by the Work We Did’

Former MI6 agent Christopher Steele said during a preview of an ABC News interview that aired on Sunday that he stood behind the controversial “Steele Dossier” that examined possible links between former President Trump and Russia.

The interview will be featured in a Hulu documentary, “Out of the Shadows: The Man Behind the Steele Dossier.”

Steele’s dossier was involved in the FBI’s investigation into Trump’s Russian links that led to Robert Mueller being appointed special counsel.

After an extensive investigation showcase in Mueller’s report concluded that several of the dossier claims could not be proven, including that Trump’s personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, met with Kremlin officials in 2016 in Prague.

Referring to Cohen, George Stephanopoulos asked, “Do you think it hurts your credibility at all that you won’t accept the findings of the FBI in this particular case?”

Steele said, “I’m prepared to accept that not everything in the dossier is 100 percent accurate. I have yet to be convinced that that is one of them.”

Stephanopoulos asked, “So you stand by the dossier?”

Steele said, “I stand by the work we did, the sources that we had, and the professionalism which we applied to it.”

On claims that the Russians had a tape of Trump in a hotel room with Russian prostitutes, Stephanopoulos asked, “Today, do you still believe that this tape exists?”

Steele said, “I think it probably does, but I would not put 100 percent certainty on it.”

Stephanopoulos said, “How do you explain if that tape exists that it hasn’t been released?”

Steele said, “It hasn’t needed to be released.”

He added, “I think the Russians felt they’d got pretty good value out of Donald Trump when he was president of the U.S.”

Follow Pam Key on Twitter @pamkeyNEN

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