FBI Fully Redacts All but a Handful of Documents on Christopher Steele

The Associated Press
The Associated Press
Joshua Caplan

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) released a series of heavy redacted documents Friday revealing almost nothing about its relationship with former British intelligence agent and Trump “pee” dossier author Christopher Steele.

The 71 pages of FBI documents, released in response to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request filed by Judicial Watch, corroborate previous reports indicating Steele was a”Confidential Human Source” (CHS) for the bureau, though the forms themselves do not explicitly name him.

The documents confirm the FBI severed ties with the former British intelligence agent following an unauthorized media disclosure.

The first page of the FBI packet, an FD-1040a form, reveals the bureau concluded Steele was “not suitable” to function as an informant and sent a “deactivation” notice to him. Steele “acknowledged receipt” about the bureau’s move to end their relationship on November 1, 2016 — just days before the U.S. presidential election. The apparent cause, as stated in both the first and the penultimate documents, reads: “CHS confirmed to an outside third party that CHS has a confidential relationship with the FBI.”

“[H]andling agent advised CHS that the nature of the relationship between the FBI and CHS would change completely and that it was unlikely that the FBI would continue a relationship with the CHS,” the document reads. “Additionally, handling agent advised that CHS was not to operate to obtain any intelligence on behalf of the FBI.”

The final document says Steele was “verbally admonished” for an unspecified cause.

Aside from these three forms, virtually every other page is blanked out entirely. The FBI redacts information regarding their payment agreements, key dates of remittance, and the duration of Steele’s relationship with the Bureau.

The release’s table of contents says eight pages were withheld from the public.

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