A former British intelligence officer has apparently gone into hiding after being identified in reports as the man behind an explosive dossier about US President-elect Donald Trump.
Christopher Steele, 52, who runs London-based Orbis Business Intelligence, left his Surrey home on Wednesday. Neighbours who were asked to look after his cats said he did not say when he would be coming back.
Downing Street declined to say whether Mr Steele was being assisted by official agencies, saying only that there was a "standard process" to support holders and former holders of particular sensitive posts whose identities were revealed.
US director of national intelligence James Clapper said he had told Mr Trump that the leak did not come from the intelligence community.
In an extraordinary New York press conference on Wednesday, the president-elect made clear that he suspected US intelligence agencies of releasing the 35-page dossier, which contained unverified allegations that Russia held compromising information which would render him vulnerable to blackmail.
He blamed political opponents for commissioning the document during last year's election campaign and said it would be a "tremendous blot" on the agencies' reputation if they were shown to have leaked it.
And he turned on the news organisations which reported it, branding the CNN news channel "fake news" and warning that website BuzzFeed would "suffer the consequences" for publishing it in full online.
Denying intelligence responsibility for the leak, Mr Clapper also said he told the president-elect that the US agencies had "not made any judgment that the information in this document is reliable".
Former MI6 officer Mr Steele is one of two directors of corporate intelligence company Orbis, according to Companies House.
The company's website says Orbis, which was founded in 2009 by former British intelligence professionals, can "provide strategic advice, mount intelligence-gathering operations and conduct complex, often cross-border investigations".
The Wall Street Journal reported that Mr Steele's fellow director, former Foreign Office official Christopher Burrows, 58, had refused to "confirm or deny" that Orbis produced the Trump report.
According to the WSJ, Mr Steele has repeatedly declined requests for interviews in recent weeks, with an intermediary telling the newspaper the subject was "too hot".
Mr Steele's house in the village of Runfold, outside Farnham, Surrey, was empty on Thursday morning.
Next-door neighbour Mike Hopper said Mr Steele had lived there with his wife and four children for about 18 months.
Mr Hopper, who is looking after the family's three cats, said his neighbour appeared "normal" when he left on Wednesday morning.
"He did not say where he was going or when he was coming back," he added.
Mr Hopper said it was a "fairly quiet neighbourhood" and he did not know anything about the claims until he read the newspaper
Asked whether the Government was helping Mr Steele in his efforts to escape attention, Prime Minister Theresa May's official spokeswoman said only: "I think there is a standard process that is followed with regard to the naming of people that have worked in certain roles in the Civil Service, be they serving or former roles.
"In all the reporting I have seen of this, it relates to a former employee."
The PM's spokeswoman declined to comment on the content of the Trump dossier.
Asked whether she could offer assurances that the UK Government had no involvement in its creation, she replied: "Nothing I have seen suggests that."
She was not aware of Mr Trump's team getting in touch with the UK Government about the dossier, but said contacts continue on preparations for Mrs May's planned meeting with the newly-inaugurated 45th President in Washington in the spring.
Orbis's website states that it has a "global network" of experts and "prominent business figures".
The firm, based in Grosvenor Gardens, in upmarket Belgravia, says it "draws on extensive experience at boardroom level in government, multilateral diplomacy and international business to develop bespoke solutions for clients".
"Our tailored approach means the directors are closely involved in the execution and detail of every project, supported by an in-house team of experienced investigators and professional intelligence analysts," it says.
Mr Burrows formerly worked for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office as a counsellor, according to his LinedkIn profile, with postings to Brussels and Delhi in the early 2000s.
The dossier has been circulating in Washington for some time as media organisations, uncertain of its credibility, held back from publication.
It was thrust into the heart of political controversy on Tuesday, when CNN reported that Mr Trump and outgoing President Barack Obama had been briefed on its contents. by the FBI.
The Kremlin has dismissed the allegations as "complete fabrication and utter nonsense", insisting that the Russian government "does not engage in collecting compromising material".
Vladimir Putin's spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, told reporters on Thursday that "Moscow hopes that our presidents will get along well."
While Moscow and Washington would not agree on everything, they could normalise strained ties if they show "mutual respect", said Mr Peskov.
He welcomed Mr Trump's stated readiness to conduct a dialogue with Russia, adding that "it will help us find a way from many difficult situations".
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