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That family member?
Sources toldABC NewsandThe Washington Postit wasIvanka Trump.
Not so, Steele said to government officials,according to a Monday reportfrom the Department of Justice’s inspector general.
The inspector general had been probing the decision-making behind the FBI’s investigation of Trump and Russia. Trump allies, including Attorney General Bill Barr, have blasted the FBI for its work in the matter and continued to do so this week. Barr called the FBI’s casea “travesty,”according to CBS News.
In one section of the report, Steele himself addressed claims of Trump animus, telling DOJ investigators it was “ridiculous.”
Still, the report notes that, according to another person, Steel had been “desperate” to prevent Trump’s election — which Steele denied, saying he was worried only about Trump as a national security risk.
Indeed, regarding how he approached his Trump investigation, Steele “stated that if anything he was ‘favorably disposed’ toward the Trump family before he began his research because he had visited a Trump family member at Trump Tower and ‘been friendly’ with [them] for some years,” the inspector general’s report stated.
“He described their relationship as ‘personal’ and said that he once gifted a family tartan from Scotland to the family member,” the report continued.
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Both ABC and thePostreported that the Trump family member was Ivanka, who is now a senior aide in the White House after years of working at her dad’s real estate company.
According to ABC, citing a source, Ivanka and Steele met in 2007 “and began corresponding about the possibility of future work together. … The following year, the two exchanged emails about meeting up near Trump Tower,” and they did eventually meet. Steele was then working at a business intelligence firm.
ThePostsimilarly reported, citing its own source, “that the former British intelligence officer [Steele] told his American clients about his friendship withIvanka Trump, and they agreed not to discuss it outside their small circle as his work proceeded.”
A White House spokeswoman for Ivanka did not respond to a request for comment.
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The president has repeatedly attacked Steele’s work as “phony” and “corrupt” and denied the pee-tape allegation. SonDonald Trump Jr.has also tweeted posts calling Steele and his work into question.
source: people.com
