The Russian government did not get the dossier's content published on WikiLeaks — as it did a variety of emails it stole from the Democrats — or anywhere else before the election.
Scarlett, a former spy, whom the Russians expelled from Moscow in 1994, asked Campbell to confirm that Scarlett would be in charge of the dossier's contents.
The criminal referral makes no assessment of the veracity of the dossier's contents, much of which remains unsubstantiated nearly a year after it became public.
Anyone who doesn't like what McCain did "can go to hell," though he underscores that he's agnostic about the dossier's contents.
The dossier, whose contents Steele brought to the attention of the FBI in 2016, was among the early sources of allegations that triggered the probe now led by special counsel Robert S. Mueller III.
The flap over the dossier, the contents of which even BuzzFeed conceded it couldn't verify, had overshadowed what was supposed to be the real reason for the press conference: an announcement about what, if anything, the President-elect intended to do to separate himself from his far-flung businesses.
Labour MP Mr Danczuk, who has been pressing Lord Brittan to reveal what he knew about the dossier's contents, is calling for a "Hillsborough-style" inquiry to prevent allegations involving politicians being "swept under the carpet".
Simon Danczuk had been pressing Lord Brittan to reveal what he knew about the dossier's contents - and for the Home Office to publish it in full - when officials released a statement saying they had already carried out a review that had found it had not been retained.
Buzzfeed's decision to make public the contents of the dossier without verifying its contents raises profound issues about journalistic ethics, but that's a discussion for weightier minds than mine.
But in the rush to trample all over the dossier and its contents, one key question remained.
