intelligence community

This episode contains strong language. 

The Steele Dossier — compiled by Christopher Steele, a British former spy — was born out of opposition research on Donald J. Trump, then a presidential candidate, and his supposed links to Russia.

The document, full of salacious allegations, captured and cleaved America. But now, a main source of the dossier’s findings — Igor Danchenko, a Russian analyst — has been charged with lying to federal investigators.

Guest: Michael S. Schmidt, a Washington correspondent for The New York Times.

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Background reading: 

• Mr. Trump and his backers say revelations about the Steele dossier show the Russia investigation was a “hoax.” That is not what the facts indicate.

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday. 

What is the extent of Russia’s interest in the 2020 U.S. election? Last year, a classified report written by intelligence officials tried to answer this question.

In this episode, Robert Draper, a writer-at-large at The New York Times Magazine, explores what happened after the report — which stated that President Trump was Russia’s favored candidate in the upcoming election — was drafted.

This story was written by Robert Draper and recorded by Audm. To hear more audio stories from publishers like The New York Times, download Audm for iPhone or Android.