The FBI would neither confirm nor deny the fact it made payments to the British spy who penned a dossier on President Donald Trump last year that has been the subject of much debate.
A Freedom of Information Act request filed by the Cause of Action Institute asked the bureau to reveal evidence it paid Christopher Steele for the aforementioned document, which he put together during the 2016 presidential campaign. The FBI responded with a letter in which it explained why it could not comment further on the issue.
"The nature of your request implicates records the FBI may or may not compile pursuant to its national security and foreign intelligence functions," the bureau wrote.
"Accordingly, the FBI cannot confirm or deny the existence of any records responsive to your request, as the mere acknowledgment of the existence or nonexistence of such records would, in and of itself, harm national security interests and reveal intelligence sources and methods. The FBI therefore refrains from confirming the existence or nonexistence of records responsive to your request, pursuant to FOIA Exemptions 1 and 3."
A report in February claimed the FBI came to an agreement to pay Steele to continue to investigate Trump. He was concurrently doing work for Democrat Hillary Clinton's campaign in the form of digging up dirt on Trump, according to the report.
The dossier contained unverified information, and Trump has denied everything in it.
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