Evidence of Russia's 'likely hold' over Trump was covered up by the UK government, according to a former British spy

• Evidence about Trump's ties to Russia were covered up by the UK government, according to a former British spy.
• Former MI6 agent Christopher Steele reportedly told a UK parliamentary investigation that former UK Prime Minister Theresa May's government had thrown a "blanket" over the information he provided.
• Steele said he had handed over a dossier on Trump's links to Russia in 2016, but "no inquiries were made or actions taken thereafter."
• Boris Johnson suppressed the as-yet-unpublished report which had been due for publication before the last UK general election in December.

Evidence of Vladimir Putin's "likely hold" over Donald Trump was covered up by the UK government in order to protect its relationship with the president, a former British spy has claimed.

Former MI6 agent Christopher Steele told a UK parliamentary investigation that former Prime Minister Theresa May had turned a blind eye to evidence of Putin's relationship with Trump, according to a Guardian report.

The committee reponsible for the investigation had been due to publish its report last year. However, the UK's current prime minister Boris Johnson refused to publish the report prior to December's general election, and it is still yet to be published.

Steele has reportedly accused the May government, in which Johnson served as foreign secretary for two years, of throwing "a blanket" over the allegations regarding President Trump's relationship with Putin.

The former spy said he had presented a dossier on Trump's relationship to Russia to UK security officials in 2016, the year when he defeated Hilary Clinton to be elected US President.

However, Steele said, "on reaching top political decision-makers, a blanket appeared to be thrown over it."

He said: "No inquiries were made or actions taken thereafter on the substance of the intelligence in the dossier by HMG [the UK government.]"

Steele, who led the MI6 Russia desk for three years, included the claim in evidence he provided to the UK Parliament's Intelligence & Security Committee (ISC) for its report into possible Russian interference in British democracy.

In his evidence, Steele said the May government decided not to act on the information it received on Trump's alleged ties with Putin, in order to protect the UK's close and long-standing relationship with the US.

Steele said: "In this case, political considerations seemed to outweigh national security interests. If so, in my view, HMG made a serious mistake in balancing matters of strategic importance to our country.

"A prospective trade deal should never be allowed to eclipse considerations of national security."

He added that the UK government was reluctant to take action when it would present "difficult wider political implications," using alleged Russian interference in the UK's 2016 referendum on EU membership as an example.

"Examples of this include reporting on the Kremlin's likely hold over President Trump and his family/administration and indications of Russian interference in and clandestine funding of the Brexit referendum," Steele said.

Failure to publish the Russia report is an 'affront to democracy'

The ISC's report into Russian interference has not been published, despite being completed and sent to Prime Minister Johnson in October. Johnson refused to release it prior to the UK's general election in December.

The UK government insists the highly-anticipated report cannot be published until a new ISC is formed.

However, six months on from the general election, the committee is still not formed. The BBC reports that the hold-up is due to Johnson's Conservative party failing to agree on MPs it wants to nominate as committee members.

A cross-party group of opposition MPs last week wrote to Johnson, urging him to publish the report.

The letter, shared exclusively with Business Insider, pointed out that six months was the longest the UK Parliament had ever had to wait for the ISC to be formed.

It said Prime Minister Johnson's failure to release the report was an "affront to democracy" and that it was "untenable for you [Johnson] to continue to block the publication of the Russia report."

In the run-up to last year's general election, it was reported that Johnson's government held back the report due to the "embarrassing" links it revealed between the Russian secret service and donors to the Conservative party.

A spokesperson for Prime Minister Johnson on Monday indicated that the committee would be formed in the coming weeks.

"Work to establish the committee is ongoing and it will be established as quick as current circumstances allow.

"Further announcements including members of the committee will be made in due course," they said.

Trump's relationship with Russia and Putin has been scrutinized since the 2016 presidential campaign.

Former special counsel Robert Mueller found that Russia worked to get Trump elected, though his investigation did not find enough evidence to suggest that Russia coordinated with the Trump campaign.

Trump has repeatedly praised Putin and Russia and spoken in favor of Russia, saying he trusted Putin's word over US intelligence agencies over Russian meddling in the election.

Trump's former national security adviser, John Bolton, last week said Putin did not see Trump as a "serious adversary," and "I think Putin thinks he can play him like a fiddle."