Part of British spy Christopher Steele's infamous 'dirty dossier' was based on unverified information submitted to a now-defunct CNN site, court papers reveal.
Steele was forced to make the embarrassing admission during a court case involving Russian internet entrepreneur Aleksej Gubarev, who he accused of helping Russian hackers attack the DNC in his report.
While being quizzed over what information he found against Webzilla and XBT, two of Gubarev's companies, Steele quoted CNN's iReport as a source.
Part of the 'dirty dossier' that attacked President Trump over his links to Russian election interference was based on a CNN website that allowed people to submit their own news
'What do you understand iReports to be on CNN?,' one of the examiners asked him, according to a transcript seen by Fox News.
'I do not have any particular knowledge of that,' he responded.
When asked whether he understood that the reports have no connection to CNN reporters, he answered: 'I do not.'
'Do you understand that CNN iReports are or were nothing more than any random individuals’ assertions on the Internet?', the examiner cotinued.
British spy Christopher Steele was forced to admit that he didn't know what CNN iReport was when he used it as a source
'No, I obviously presume that if it is on a CNN site that it may have [sic] some kind of CNN status. Albeit that it may be an independent person posting on the site.'
The court case took place last year, but papers were only just unsealed after legal action by newspapers.
Gubarev had been attempting to sue Buzzfeed for publishing the dossier, saying it had defamed his companies.
The case was ultimately dismissed after a judge ruled
