The former British spy who compiled a dossier on President-elect Donald Trump for Democratic opposition research has reportedly gone into hiding.
Christopher Steele, who operates a London-based intelligence company and formerly worked for the British MI6, was identified by the Wall Street Journal as the person who compiled memos claiming Russia had compromising material on Trump. Those documents were later published in full by BuzzFeed.
According to the BBC, Steele is believed to have left his home this week. A neighbor was asked by Steele, who left his home on either Tuesday or Wednesday, to look after his cat.
“He asked me to look after his cat as he would be gone for a few days,” said the neighbor, the Telegraph reported. “I’m not sure where he’s gone or how to contact him. I don’t really know much about him except to say hello.
“We’re all pretty secretive round here to be honest. All I know is he runs some sort of consultancy business.”
Another source close to Steele told The Telegraph is “terrified for his safety” and went underground before his name was released.
Trump derided the memo’s claims, calling them “fake news” and “phony.”
When serving with MI6, Steele was posted to Moscow in 1990. After leaving MI6, Steele founded Orbis Business Intelligence with business partner Christopher Burrows in 2009.
“A whole bunch of people are probably [expletive] off with him,” intelligence analyst Glenmore Trenear-Harvey-Harvey told NBC News, adding that he might just be hiding from the media.
