HERE S THE BACKGROUND:On January 11, 2017, the media reported on the existence of a private intelligence dossier containing unverified allegations of misconduct and ties between then President-elect Donald Trump and the Russian government. The dossier was written by a former British MI6 intelligence agent, Christopher Steele, who went into hiding after the release of the dossier.The media and the intelligence community have stressed that accusations in the dossier have not been verified. Most experts treated the dossier with skepticism and caution. Trump himself has denounced the report, calling it  fake news  and  phony.  A Russian government spokesman dismissed the dossier, saying its allegations were false.The document alleges that the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) has kompromat on Trump   damaging or embarrassing material which could be used to blackmail him, including allegations about Trump s sexual and financial activities in Russia. The dossier also states that the Russian government promoted Trump s candidacy to create divisions in Western alliances, and that during his presidential campaign there was exchange of information between Russian sources and people associated with Trump s campaign.The dossier was produced as part of opposition research during the 2016 United States presidential election. The research was initially funded by Republicans who did not want Trump to be the Republican Party nominee for president. After Trump won the primaries, a Democratic client took over the funding; and, following Trump s election, Steele continued working on the report pro bono.In a Monday letter to FBI Director James Comey, Grassley asked for records pertaining to any agreements the agency may have had with Christopher Steele. The MI6 agent wrote an explosive memo on behalf of Trump s political enemies alleging that the Russians had compromising information on the president.Comey briefed Trump on the existence of the memo in a private meeting in January.Shortly after, several news organizations published the unverified allegations, which the White House denied.In late February, The Washington Post reported that the FBI reached an agreement with Steele whereby the British spy would continue his investigation on behalf of the bureau.Read more The Hill