• A Russian oligarch who has past business ties to Paul Manafort confirmed in a recent interview that he previously employed Christopher Steele, the author of the Trump dossier
  • Oleg Deripaska said that he hired Steele through his attorneys in London to work on an unspecific legal proceeding
  • Steele was hired by Fusion GPS on behalf of the Clinton campaign and DNC to investigate Donald Trump’s possible ties to Russia. His dossier was all but debunked by the special counsel’s investigation, which failed to establish a conspiracy between Trump and the Kremlin. 

A Russian aluminum magnate with close ties to Vladimir Putin says that he hired Trump dossier author Christopher Steele to work on a research project related to a legal battle in London.

Oleg Deripaska told TheHill.TV that his attorneys hired Steele on retainer for the work.

“It was a research project to support one of the cases against me in London. My understanding [is] that lawyers trust him for some reason, and he was for quite [sic] time on retainer,” Deripaska told The Hill’s John Solomon in the interview, published Tuesday.

Deripaska’s connection to Steele further complicates the view of the former British spy, who has been heralded by Trump critics for his investigation into possible links between the Trump campaign and Russia. At the very least, it shows that Steele is willing to work on both sides of the fence on Russia-related issues. Steele, who operates a private intelligence firm in London, was hired in June 2016 by Fusion GPS, an opposition research firm that worked for the Clinton campaign and DNC.

The State Department has restricted Deripaska’s visa over concerns about connections to Russian organized crime. The Treasury Department sanctioned Deripaska and six other Russian oligarchs on April 6, 2018 over their ties to the Russian government and Russian energy sector. He sued the U.S. government on March 15, claiming that the sanctions have cost him billions of dollars and were based on false rumors.

Steele’s reputation has also been tarnished by the special counsel’s report, which said that investigators could not establish a conspiracy between the Trump campaign and Russian government. Steele alleged that the Trump campaign and Russian government were engaged in a “well-developed conspiracy of co-operation” to influence the 2016 election.

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Deripaska did not say how much Steele was paid, or how long he worked on the unspecified project. He also did not say whether he spoke with Steele regarding his investigation of Trump.