Breaking down the Trump dossier : What you need to know
President Trump  departs after signing a presidential memorandum to declare the opioid crisis a national public health emergency in the East Room of the White House in Washington on Thursday  Oct. 26  2017. (Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post)
 The Trump dossier  is one of the strangest documents to surface during a presidential election. At 35 pages   it  was compiled by former British intelligence officer Christopher Steele and contains  allegations suggesting that the Trump campaign had close coordination with the Kremlin .  The document  also includes salacious claims about  President Trump himself .
Many of  the allegations  were already known to reporters before BuzzFeed published the dossier in January  saying “Americans can make up their own minds” about  Trump   then the president-elect. Officials said some of the information in the dossier has been corroborated  but other parts — including the most salacious claims about  Trump’s  behavior — remain unverified.
On Tuesday  The Washington Post reported that the Hillary Clinton campaign and the Democratic National Committee helped fund the research that led to the dossier  intensifying the political fights that surround the ongoing special counsel probe into possible connections between Russia and  Trump  associates.
In 2016  Mother Jones first reported that Democratic sources funded research efforts for the dossier. But on Tuesday  The Post went a step further  reporting that it was the Clinton campaign and the Democratic National Committee. A lawyer working on behalf of the campaign and the committee retained a Washington firm named Fusion GPS to do the research  which originally began during the Republican presidential primaries. The firm’s efforts were first supported by a Republican donor who had tasked the firm to look into Trump’s background. That individual’s identity remains unknown.
2. What was  Trump ’s reaction?
On Wednesday   Trump  told reporters it was a “disgrace” that Democrats helped fund the dossier  adding: “It’s a very sad commentary on politics in this country.”
 Trump  also called  himself  a victim in one of  his  tweets on Wednesday  attributing the quote to Fox News: “Clinton campaign & DNC paid for research that led to the anti-Trump Fake News Dossier. The victim here is the President.” @FoxNews”
Trump in the past has characterized the dossier as “phony stuff” and has demanded the Justice Department release the names of who paid for it.
Perkins Coie  the law firm. Fusion GPS approached the law firm in March 2016 to offer its services — continuing the research into Trump. The law firm then engaged Fusion GPS the next month. Elias helped create the arrangement.
As a legal matter  it doesn’t. The FBI and special counsel Robert S. Mueller III have known for a long time the origins of the dossier and Fusion GPS’s work. But the public knowledge that the dossier was  in essence  paid for by the Clinton campaign and the DNC could color the political debate about Trump and Russia. Republicans are seizing on the matter as further evidence that the Russia probe is flawed.
[TGT]departs after signing a presidential memorandum to declare the opioid crisis a national public health emergency in the East Room of the White House in Washington on Thursday  Oct. 26  2017. (Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post)
 [TGT]is one of the strangest documents to surface during a presidential election. At 35 pages   [TGT]  was compiled by former British intelligence officer Christopher Steele and contains  allegations suggesting that the [TGT] campaign had close coordination with the Kremlin .  The document  also includes salacious claims about [TGT] .
Many of  the allegations  were already known to reporters before BuzzFeed published [TGT] in January  saying “Americans can make up their own minds” about  [TGT]then the president-elect. Officials said some of the information in [TGT] has been corroborated  but other parts — including the most salacious claims about  Trump’s  behavior — remain unverified.
On Tuesday  The Washington Post reported that the Hillary Clinton campaign and the Democratic National Committee helped fund the research that led to [TGT]intensifying the political fights that surround the ongoing special counsel probe into possible connections between Russia and  [TGT]associates.
In 2016  Mother Jones first reported that Democratic sources funded research efforts for [TGT]. But on Tuesday  The Post went a step further  reporting that it was the Clinton campaign and the Democratic National Committee. A lawyer working on behalf of the campaign and the committee retained a Washington firm named Fusion GPS to do the research  which originally began during the Republican presidential primaries. The firm’s efforts were first supported by a Republican donor who had tasked the firm to look into Trump’s background. That individual’s identity remains unknown.
2. What was  Trump ’s reaction?
On Wednesday   [TGT]told reporters it was a “disgrace” that Democrats helped fund [TGT]adding: “It’s a very sad commentary on politics in this country.”
 [TGT]also called  [TGT]  a victim in one of  [TGT]  tweets on Wednesday  attributing the quote to Fox News: “Clinton campaign & DNC paid for research that led to the anti-Trump Fake News Dossier. The victim here is the President.” @FoxNews”
Trump in the past has characterized the dossier as “phony stuff” and has demanded the Justice Department release the names of who paid for it.
Perkins Coie  the law firm. Fusion GPS approached the law firm in March 2016 to offer its services — continuing the research into [TGT]. The law firm then engaged Fusion GPS the next month. Elias helped create the arrangement.
As a legal matter  it doesn’t. The FBI and special counsel Robert S. Mueller III have known for a long time the origins of the dossier and Fusion GPS’s work. But the public knowledge that the dossier was  in essence  paid for by the Clinton campaign and the DNC could color the political debate about [TGT] and Russia. Republicans are seizing on the matter as further evidence that the Russia probe is flawed.