The Telegraph is reporting that Russian military intelligence – a year before the attempted murder of Sergei Skripal – planted online evidence of a false connection between the former Russian agent and Christopher Steele, the former British intelligence officer who researched Donald Trump's Russia connections during the 2016 campaign.
Well-placed sources now believe that the plot to kill Col Skripal may have included a ‘black ops’ attempt to sow doubt on the veracity of the explosive dossier that claims Donald Trump received Kremlin backing.
The year before the attempted assassination of Col Skripal, a mysterious post on LinkedIn suggested his MI6 handler, who is not being named, worked as a “senior analyst” at Orbis Business Intelligence, the firm that produced the Trump dossier.
Orbis was co-founded by Christopher Steele, the former head of MI6’s Russia desk, who authored the Trump dossier.
Mr Steele’s dossier included the central claim that the Kremlin had been “cultivating, supporting and assisting Trump for at least five years” and the allegation that Russia was in possession of a video showing Mr Trump engaged lewd sex acts with prostitutes in Moscow.
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It is now suspected that the LinkedIn profile was created by the GRU, the Russian military intelligence unit which tried to kill Col Skripal with novichok nerve agent.
One reason would be to connect MI6 to Skripal’s murder and at the same time flag the possibility that the British secret service was behind the Trump dossier.
A well-placed source said: “By creating this link, they are suggesting that MI6 are involved with the dossier or Skripal or both. It adds to the confusion and acts as a wedge between the White House and Downing Street. It is exactly the kind of operation the Russians would order to sow confusion.”
The appearance of the false LinkedIn profile more than a year before the attempted murder of Col Skripal also raises the prospect the plot was being planned for some time.
An internet hyperlink to the LinkedIn page appeared in an obscure blog posting in January 2017 - more than a year before the Salisbury attack - but the actual LinkedIn page itself has never been visible.
At the time the LinkedIn reference was made public, Russia was angrily denying any involvement in the attempted murder of Col Skripal.
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Several sources have now confirmed to the Telegraph that Col Skripal’s handler never did any work for Orbis. He was known to Mr Steele from their time together at MI6; Mr Steele ran MI6’s Russia desk. But crucially neither the handler nor Col Skripal himself provided any information or help for the Trump dossier.
Intelligence sources increasingly believe the LinkedIn claim was falsely placed there by Russian intelligence - presumably the GRU, as part of a ‘black ops’ campaign of disinformation. The reason is unclear but could be, according to informed sources, to undermine Mr Steele’s claims in the dossier by suggesting it is an MI6 plot to get Trump but also to discredit Col Skripal in the year before his assassination.
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Sources are adamant that Col Skripal had no input in the Trump dossier. The subsequent reports, they insist, were based on a LinkedIn post that not only doesn’t appear to exist - but was put there by the Russian intelligence unit who carried out the attack in the first place.
Kremlin accused of laying false trail linking Sergei Skripal to ex-MI6 officer behind Trump dossier (The Telegraph)