The British former spy who compiled the now infamous 'dirty dossier' on Donald Trump was reportedly paid £130,000 for the report before telling a journalist he was 'shocked' by the 'hair-raising' allegations he uncovered.

Christopher Steele, who for two decades was an MI6 operative specialising in Russian affairs, met with David Corn, the Washington bureau chief at news magazine Mother Jones, before last year's Presidential election and told him the allegations warranted a substantial FBI inquiry.

In an article published Friday, Corn revealed that the former spy - whose work has sparked a diplomatic crisis this week - told him: 'The story has to come out'.

Steele also told the journalist, who first published details about the dossier in October last year: 'My track record as a professional is second to no one.'

An intelligence source has claimed Steele was paid £130,000 to compile the report.

Former MI6 spy Christopher Steele (pictured) has reportedly gone into hiding after being revealed as the source of the dossier

Donald Trump has again lashed out over the affair and tweeted: 'It now turns out that the phony allegations against me were put together by my political opponents and a failed spy afraid of being sued'.

The source told The Sun: 'Chris charged £130,000 for the report but in my opinion he sexed it up to please the people paying him.

'If he is going to get that sort of money he is not going to tell his paymasters that the subject of their inquiry is Mother Teresa is he?'

MailOnline has not been able to verify this source's claim or put it to Steele who is currently in hiding after fleeing his £1.5million mansion in fear, telling his neighbour: 'Look after my cat.'

Recounting his conversation with Steele last year, Corn said the former MI6 agent told him that allegations the then-Presidential candidate had been 'sexually compromised' in a shady Kremlin operation were 'hair-raising'.

The dossier, which has not been substantiated, made salacious allegations about Trump's conduct when he was in Moscow for the Miss Universe contest in 2013.

It also claimed Trump's team may have accepted intelligence from the Kremlin.

Cash rich: Christopher Steele, 52, runs Orbis Business Intelligence Ltd with fellow ex-MI6 operative Christopher Burrows, which made £401,000 profit in 2015 and £621,000 profit in 2016, according to company accounts (pictured)

Steele's research led him to believe that Donald Trump had been 'sexually compromised' during a 2013 visit to Moscow

The former spy feared the Kremlin was intent on disrupting western democracies

Steele had been commissioned to research Trump by a Washington-based firm FusionGPS, initially financed by a Republican source before a Democratic funder took over paying for his work after Trump won the party's nomination.

The spy, who had worked in Moscow during the 1990s, quit MI6 in 2009 to set up his own private research firm, Orbis Business Intelligence, based in Belgravia, in the heart of London.

Corn said at his meeting last year, Steele - who he did not name in the article - had told him that he felt the allegations were 'sufficiently serious' to warrant contacting the FBI, without the knowledge of the research firm.

The spy told Corn: 'This was an extraordinary situation', and said intelligence officials had reacted with 'shock and horror'.

Despite stating that he would normally not speak to reporters, he said he had concerns about the way the FBI was handling it.

Steele said, Corn recounts: 'This was something of huge significance, way above party politics.

'I think (Trump's) own party should be aware of this aware of this as well.'

He said Putin's government was intent on disrupting western democracies.

The offices of Orbis Business Intelligence Ltd in Belgravia, central London, the security business run by Christopher Steele

Corn said an intelligence source had described Steele to him as 'a credible source who has provided information to the US government for a long time'.

This information, the source said, had been 'highly credible'.

He came across as a serious and somber professional who was not eager to talk to a journalist or cause a public splash Journalist David Corn

It has emerged that Steele's company recorded a profit of more than £1million over two years.

In that time it had uncovered details of corruption at football governing body FIFA, which were passed to the FBI.

Steele's firm was allegedly recruited in June 2016 to help Mr Trump’s Republican rivals investigate his links with Russia.

Financial records for Steele's company show the business made £401,000 profit in 2015 and £621,000 profit in 2016.

It is not clear how much of this profit was made from working for the Football Association to investigate FIFA and how much came from his work on the Trump dossier.

Revelations uncovered by Steele led to the resignation of several key FIFA figures, including president Sepp Blatter, and gave the spy credence to Trump's opponents.

Initially, Steele told Corn, he thought the commission was a 'fairly general inquiry'.

The former MI6 agent and Cambridge University graduate was initially asked to research Trump's business interests in Russia.

Steele had supplied information to the FBI about corruption in FIFA, which led to the resignations of senior figures including president Sepp Blatter (pictured)

In his research, Steele claimed, he uncovered what he described as an 'established exchange of information between the Trump campaign and the Kremlin of mutual benefit'.

An article written by Corn in October quoted parts of the documents, but held back from revealing details which would identify the former spy's sources and put them at risk.

Corn wrote: 'When I spoke with the former spy, he appeared confident about his material - acknowledging these memos were works in progress - and genuinely concerned about the implications of the allegations.

'He came across as a serious and somber professional who was not eager to talk to a journalist or cause a public splash.'

And Steele told him the allegations deserved a 'substantial inquiry' within the FBI.

The dossier has caused a storm this week after it was published by Buzzfeed.

Trump branded its findings as a 'pile of garbage', and has hinted he may be considering legal action against the document's author.

Steele, 52, is understood to have gone into hiding after being revealed as the man behind the dossier.

Attack: How Trump responded on Friday morning to the discredited dossier

Dossier of unverifiable sleaze Lurid sex claims The report states that in 2013 Trump hired prostitutes to urinate on the bed of the Presidential Suite at the Moscow Ritz Carlton, where he knew Barack and Michelle Obama had previously stayed. It says: 'Trump's unorthodox behavior in Russia over the years had provided the authorities there with enough embarrassing material on the now Republican presidential candidate to be able to blackmail him if they so wished.' Property 'sweeteners' The document states that Trump had declined 'sweetener' real estate deals in Russia that the Kremlin lined up in order to cultivate him. The business proposals were said to be 'in relation to the ongoing 2018 World Cup soccer tournament'. Russia 'cultivated' Trump for five years The dossier claimed that the Russian regime had been 'cultivating, supporting and assisting Trump for at least five years'. According to the document, one source even claimed that 'the Trump operation was both supported and directed by Russian President Vladimir Putin' with the aim being to 'sow discord'. Putin 'wanted to cause divisions in the West' The report claims that Russian President Vladimir Putin himself had endorsed moves to encourage 'splits and divisions in the West. A dossier on Hillary Clinton At one point the memo suggests Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov 'controlled' another dossier containing compromising material on Hillary Clinton compiled over 'many years'. Elsewhere in the document, it is claimed that Putin was 'motivated by fear and hatred of Hillary Clinton.' Clandestine meetings At one point the memo says there were reports of 'clandestine meetings' between Donald Trump's lawyer Michael Cohen and Kremlin representatives in August last year in Prague. However, Trump's counsel Michael Cohen today spoke out against allegations that he secretly met with Kremlin officials. Advertisement

Trump lashed out over the affair, calling Steele a 'failed spy' employed by 'sleazebag political operatives' and suggesting he wants to sue the ex-MI6 agent if he ever comes out of hiding.

He tweeted: 'It now turns out that the phony allegations against me were put together by my political opponents and a failed spy afraid of being sued'.

The row has plunged Britain and Russia into a fresh outbreak of Cold War hostilities with Russia claiming Steele has never left MI6 and security sources say he spoke to UK Government officials before handing the dossier to the FBI.

Former British ambassador to Moscow, Sir Andrew Wood, 77, described Steele as a 'very professional operator'.

Sir Andrew, who was ambassador between 1995 and 2000, said: 'I know him to be a very professional operator who left the secret service to operate his own company.

'I do not think he would make things up - but I do not think he would always draw the correct judgement'.

Steele has been accused of 'appalling judgement' over the 'shaky' file containing far-fetched claims about the president-elect's sex life in Russia and MI6 boss Sir Alex Younger is said to be livid.

Steele, 52, was described as a 'confirmed socialist' as a Cambridge student, circled in 1985 with, among others, DJ Paul Gambaccini (second from right, front row) and That's Life star Chris Seale (front row, centre left)

No10 defies mounting calls for clarity on what government knew about ex-MI6 agent's claims of Russian 'dirty' dossier on Donald Trump No10 insisted it will not get into 'specifics' about the row despite reports that the intelligence services knew ex-spy Christopher Steele was talking to the FBI Downing Street is defying mounting calls for clarity over what the government knew about an ex-MI6 agent's claims of a Russian 'dirty' dossier on Trump. No10 insisted it will not get into 'specifics' about the row despite reports that the intelligence services knew ex-spy Christopher Steele was talking to the FBI. A British former ambassador to Moscow has also admitted he told Mr Trump's sworn enemy, Republican senator John McCain, about the outlandish allegations in the memos. The boss of MI6 is also said to be 'livid' that Mr Steele's actions have put them in a difficult position with the new US administration - just weeks before Mrs May is due to make a crucial visit to Washington where she will try to lay the groundwork for a post-Brexit trade deal. Tory MPs and former Ukip leader Nigel Farage have urged Mrs May to distance the UK from the memos and make clear to Mr Trump's team that the authorities had nothing to do with it. But asked if the government had yet been in touch to reassure Team Trump there was no government involvement in Steele memos, a spokesman for the Prime Minister said: ‘There is contact between the UK and the President-elect's team about plans for the forthcoming visit.’ Pressed on whether the government had been aware of the FBI’s reported request to talk to Steele about his memos, the spokesman said: 'How the FBI conducts an investigation is a matter for the FBI. 'It is not commonplace for us to get into specifics.’ Advertisement

Intelligence expert Nigel West says Steele, who he described as a a friend is like Ian Fleming's most famous character - and revealed he has a deep dislike of Putin and his Kremlin for ignoring accepted rules of espionage.

He said: 'He's James Bond. I actually introduced him to my wife as James Bond'.

Steele has been described as 'reliable, meticulous and well-informed' by former colleagues but another told The Times he is 'more showy and less grounded in reality than you might expect a former SIS person to be'.

And a former university contemporary has described him as an unlikely spy, telling MailOnline: 'Chris Steele was the last person I would have thought would be taken on by MI6.'

The former Cambridge student - who attended at the same time as Steele - continued: 'He was very left wing in his university days, but that wasn’t the worst of it.

'He was completely charmless. I have never heard of a spy who was not charming.

'However he was very ambitious, ruthless and frankly not a very nice guy.

'In fact I would go as far as to say he was a sneaky, snivelling little creep, who was universally untrusted.'

Former British ambassador to Russia, Sir Andrew Wood (pictured), revealed he had held discussions with Trump's arch-rival, Senator John McCain

Some experts believe that Steele fell into a Kremlin trap and was fed false information about Trump and extraordinary claims he was filmed paying prostitutes to do a 'golden shower' sex game on a presidential suite bed once slept on by Barack Obama.

It emerged yesterday that Sir Andrew met with Trump's arch-rival, Senator John McCain, in November, where they discussed the possibility that Trump could have been compromised.

Describing his exchange with John McCain he said: 'I know Chris Steele and the report we are talking about had already been seen by quite a lot of people in Washington but not by Senator McCain. I told him I was aware of what was in it but had not read it myself and still haven't'.

Sir Andrew told McCain it contained claims about Trump's links to the Russians and his 'sexual behaviour' - and that the US politician then sought out a copy himself from elsewhere.

One of his aides was instructed to look for a man with a copy of the Financial Times and that's how the individuals met, with the source taking McCain's emissary back to his house and giving the American a copy of the documents.

Sir Andrew and McCain discussed Trump's vulnerability to blackmail amid allegations contained in the discredited dossier.

He said: 'We spoke about how Mr Trump may find himself in a position where there could be an attempt to blackmail him with Kompromat (a Russian term for compromising material) and claims that there were audio and video tapes in existence.

'There were stories about his treatment of women and we know that the FSB and KGB do regularly use honeytraps'.

He added: 'I don’t think I have done anything wrong at all in what I have done'.