Dossier author Christopher Steele reportedly met Ivanka Trump at a dinner in 2007, and the two maintained a friendly relationship for years afterward.
The Department of Justice's inspector general report released Monday describes how Steele, former intelligence officer and author of the dossier written in 2016 that describes alleged links between the Trump campaign and Russia, denied having a bias against then-candidate Donald Trump.
In fact, the report reads, "He stated that if anything he was 'favorably disposed' toward the Trump family before he began his research because he had visited a Trump family member at Trump Tower and 'been friendly' with [the family member] for some years." It goes on to say, "He described their relationship as 'personal' and said that he once gifted a family tartan from Scotland to the family member."
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The report doesn't mention who this Trump family member is, but according to ABC News, it's Ivanka Trump. Steele and Trump met at a dinner in 2007, when he was working for MI6, and "they began corresponding about the possibility of future work together," ABC reports, adding that they "stayed in touch via emails over the next several years." In one 2008 email, they talk about meeting for dinner near Trump Tower, the report says.
This relationship between Trump and Steele, who President Trump has blasted as a "lowlife" and "dopey," had not previously been known. Ivanka Trump hasn't yet commented on the report.
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