Obama officials used dossier to probe, brief Trump despite knowing it was unverified 'internet rumor'

The discredited document at the center of the criminal investigations into former CIA Director John Brennan and former FBI Director James Comey was used to open the original Trump–Russia probe in 2016 and used to brief then-President-elect Donald Trump, despite top Obama-era intelligence officials knowing it was filled with unverified "internet rumor."

The "Steele dossier," as it's called, was authored by ex-British intelligence officer Christopher Steele. It was funded by Hillary Clinton’s...