Trump reveals Melania’s candid reaction to ‘golden shower’ claim in Steele dossier
Formern spy’s dossier claimed Russians had blackmail over Trump
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Donald Trump told a midterms rally crowd that former First Lady Melania Trump didn’t believe the salacious allegations in the Steele dossier, the infamous and now mostly-debunked research file from former British spy Christopher Steele about the Trump campaign’s alleged contacts with Russia.
The research, funded by the 2016 Hillary Clinton presidential campaign and the Democratic National Committee, claimed among other things that Mr Trump paid prostitutes in Moscow to urinate on a hotel bed Barack and Michelle Obama had once used.
“It wasn’t good for me to go home that night and explain to the First Lady,” Mr Trump said at a rally on Monday night supporting GOP Senate candidate JD Vance. “That was not a good dossier.”
“JD, you never want to have to do that,” the former president said with a smile, addressing the Ohio Republican. “Never. That was not good.”
Mr Trump, famously germaphobic, said his wife didn’t believe the allegations.
“She said to me, ‘I know that’s not your thing,’” Mr Trump said. “You know why? Because I’m a germ freak.”
In March, the Federal Election Commission fined the Clinton campaign and the DNC for not properly disclosing the more than $1m it funneled into the research.
The Democrats funded the research through law firm Perkins Coie, which hired research outfit Fusion GPS, the group that then tasked Mr Steele to pursue his research.
The former intelligence agent has maintained that his work was unverified, warranted further investigation, and wasn’t meant for public consumption.
However, the contents of the dossier leaked in January 2017, just as Mr Trump was set to take office.
In October, the trial of Igor Danchenko, a Russia analyst whose allegations helped create the dossier, began.
Prosecutors allege Mr Danchenko lied to the FBI when the agency interviewed the analyst in 2017 as it tried to verify the allegations in the dossier.
Officials say the analyst fabricated an alleged anonymous phone call thought to have come from Sergei Millian, a former head of the Russian-American Chamber of Commerce, and falsely claimed he never spoke with Charles Dolan, a Democratic operative.
The analyst has maintained he was always truthful with the government.
Despite beginning six years ago, “Russiagate” continues to influence US politics.
Earlier this week, a key Putin ally admitted openly for the first time that Russia interfered in US elections and “will continue to interfere”.
Subscribe to Independent Premium to bookmark this article
Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Premium subscription today.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments