Newly leaked dossier on Trump circulated in DC for months

U.S. intelligence officials had presented Trump with unsubstantiated claims that Russia had amassed compromising personal and financial allegations about him.

In October, Mother Jones magazine described how a former Western spy — assigned to look into Trump's Russian ties for a private American firm — had presented his findings to the FBI in August.

The Wall Street Journal on Wednesday identified the dossier's author as Christopher Steele, a director of London-based Orbis Business Intelligence Ltd., whom the Journal said declined repeated requests for interviews through an intermediary.

Shortly after reports were published late Tuesday about the dossier, Trump tweeted: "FAKE NEWS - A TOTAL POLITICAL WITCH HUNT!" The president-elect said at a combative news conference Wednesday that the allegations were "phony stuff" leaked by "sick people."

The summary of the dossier allegations was appended to a classified assessment of Russia's suspected attempts to meddle in the U.S. presidential election.