The Outsize Life and Quiet Death of the Steele Dossier

<p><i>This episode contains strong language. </i></p><p>The Steele Dossier — compiled by Christopher Steele, a British former spy — was born out of opposition research on Donald J. Trump, then a presidential candidate, and his supposed links to Russia.</p><p>The document, full of salacious allegations, captured and cleaved America. But now, a main source of the dossier’s findings — Igor Danchenko, a Russian analyst — has been charged with lying to federal investigators.</p><p>Guest: <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/by/michael-s-schmidt?smid=pc-thedaily">Michael S. Schmidt</a>, a Washington correspondent for The New York Times.</p><p><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/newsletters/signup/NTTD?smid=pc-thedaily">Sign up here</a> to get The Daily in your inbox each morning. And for an exclusive look at how the biggest stories on our show come together, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/newsletters/the-daily?module=inline">subscribe to our newsletter</a>. </p><p>Background reading: </p><ul><li>Mr. Trump and his backers say revelations about the Steele dossier show the Russia investigation was a “hoax.”<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/12/01/us/trump-russia-investigation-dossier.html"> That is not what the facts indicate</a>.</li></ul><p>For more information on today’s episode, visit <a href="http://nytimes.com/thedaily?smid=pc-thedaily">nytimes.com/thedaily</a>. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday. </p>