As the 2016 Presidential election was winding down, then-Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid called out then-FBI Director James Comey from the Senate floor to look into a dossier about then-candidate Donald Trump. The dossier details unverified claims that gave reason to believe that Donald Trump could be blackmailed by the Russian government. The dossier had already been circulating through Washington circles since July 2016. Along with Trump, Republicans have criticized the dossier saying that they doubt it's legitimate.

Criticism against dossier

Reasons many suggested that the dossier should be taken seriously was due to spelling and grammatical errors. But many who are familiar with traveling to Russia and others from the intelligence community have said that the document's format showed that the author had some familiarity the dossier format and the inner workings of how Russia monitors Americans.

Nonetheless, President Trump was briefed on the dossier early in the year which some believe was so that he would know about the existence of the dossier. Some have said that he was briefed that he would know that the Russians were seeking to blackmail him. But the document has resurfaced throughout the year during hearings by congressional committees where intelligence officials refused to talk about it in a public setting.

Independent search for dossier author

Politico reported in an article titled: "Hunt for Trump dossier author inflames Russia probe" that Republicans from the House Intelligence Committee had sent two staffers to London earlier in the Summer to try and locate the writer of the dossier, Christopher Steele. The report said that they were looking for the source in order to deliver a request to have him before the Committee for their investigation on possible collusion between the Trump campaign and Russian officials.

Steel was a former agent for British intelligence and is now operating a private practice.

The Politico article wrote that a source claimed Democrats who are part of the committee and therefore the investigation were left in the dark about the trip. But another source attempted to counter that claim saying that in sending those staffers, they were not looking for Steele himself or to interview him in London but to reach Steele's attorney for their request.

Politico reported that the two intelligence committee investigators showed up at two locations, one of them was Steele's attorney's office where the former MI6 intelligence official was meeting with his attorney.

House Republicans undermining Mueller, Democrats and Congress

Democrats on the committee were reportedly, however, not the only ones left out of the loop. Members of the Senate Intelligence Committee were also left out as was the special prosecutor Robert Mueller, both who are also conducting their own investigations. It was recently reported that Mueller had met with committee members from both the House of Representatives and the Senate in order to make sure they did not impede on each other's investigations.

But if he was intentionally left out, it would show that House Republicans are also obstructing justice. This is likely as they have already confirmed themselves to be more united with President Trump and his style of attempting to elude investigations. Some Democrats already believe that by sending staffers to look for Steele, that they might be trying to "spook" him from testifying.
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