Former officer of the British intelligence agency MI6 (Military Intelligence, Section 6), who is believed to have prepared the memo claiming Russia has compromising material on United States President-elect Donald Trump, is now in hiding, said a BBC report today (12 January). Christopher Steele has been widely named as the author of the memo that contains extensive allegations about Trump's personal life and his campaign's relationship with the Russian state.

The intelligence agency officials considered Steele "extremely, highly regarded" and "competent". Steele is believed to be director of Orbis Business Intelligence, which describes itself as a leading corporate intelligence consultancy. Christopher Burrows, who is listed as co-director of Orbis alongside Steele, has refused to confirm or deny whether the firm had produced the memo on Trump, said the BBC report.

The 35-page dossier on Trump, which is believed to have been commissioned initially by Republicans opposed to the real estate mogul, has been circulating in Washington for some time. It is believed that the memo reached the hands of US Republican Senator John McCain, who later forwarded it to the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

With inputs from IANS