Newly uncovered FBI report alleges Russian agents murdered a potential Justice Department informant

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Christopher Steele, the former British spy responsible for a controversial unverified dossier about President Trump, also wrote a memo for the FBI alleging that Russian President Vladimir Putin's former media czar was beaten to death in a Washington, D.C., hotel room on the eve of scheduled meeting with the Department of Justice, BuzzFeed News reports. The memo contradicts the U.S. government's official finding that said the man, RT founder Mikhail Lesin, died in an "accident."

"DOJ was investigating RT," said one FBI agent. "These are the types of meetings we have with people when we want to recruit them as informants.”

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Jeva Lange

Jeva Lange was the executive editor at TheWeek.com. She formerly served as The Week's deputy editor and culture critic. She is also a contributor to Screen Slate, and her writing has appeared in The New York Daily News, The Awl, Vice, and Gothamist, among other publications. Jeva lives in New York City. Follow her on Twitter.