What is really going on in politics? Get our daily email briefing straight to your inbox Sign up Thank you for subscribing We have more newsletters Show me See our privacy notice Invalid Email

Hillary Clinton is reportedly in secret negotiations with ex-British spy Christopher Steele to buy a second 'dirty dossier' on Donald Trump .

The second report allegedly contains more salacious charges against the President, a Clinton author claims.

Last month, it emerged that Clinton's presidential campaign helped fund research that led to the now-infamous dossier of explosive allegations against Trump .

Now, author Edward Klein claims former Clinton campaign aides, still reeling from the shock 2016 election loss, are in talks with former MI6 agent Steele, according to the Daily Mail .

Klein claims an advisor told him: "Steele didn't release this information before now because it wasn't available to him when he put together his first dossier."

(Image: REX/Shutterstock)

(Image: PA)

It was reported last month that Marc Elias, campaign lawyer for Clinton and the Democratic National Committee , hired a research firm last year to probe allegations of Trump's ties to Russia.

According to the Washington Post , intelligence firm Fusion GPS then hired former British spy Christopher Steele to dig up the unconfirmed dirt on Trump.

A source close to Perkins Coie, Elias' law firm, confirmed to CNN that it retained Fusion GPS and entered "into an engagement for research services that began in April 2016 and concluded before the election in early November."

(Image: The Washington Post/Getty)

The research was initially funded by an unnamed anti-Trump Republican donor but the Clinton campaign paid for it to be finished, the newspaper reported.

It is not known how much Fusion GPS was paid for the research but the campaign and DNC reportedly shared the cost.

The publicity generated by the release of the first dossier, and dubious claims of a $12 million payment, have reportedly brought shady characters in Russia out of the woodwork, Klein says.

He quotes a source close to Clinton as saying: "There are many wealthy people in the anti-Trump 'resistance' who are more than willing to put up whatever money is necessary to get this new information."

(Image: PA) (Image: REX/Shutterstock)

Last month, it emerged that ex-MI6 agent Steele met with investigators working for special counsel Robert Mueller's Russia probe.

The former intelligence officer prepared the so-called 'dirty' dossier which made a string of claims about ties between Trump and Russia, including that it had compromising information about the business mogul.

Steele was forced into hiding after the dossier's existence came to light and the allegations - some of which were unsubstantiated - were posted on the internet in full shortly after the election last November.

(Image: Splash)

The dossier, published online in January, was dismissed as "fake news" by the President and his supporters.

But on Thursday, sources familiar with Mueller's probe and a Senate Intelligence Committee investigation into suspected Russian meddling in the election said investigators have not dismissed it.

Russia has repeatedly denied any interference in last November's election, which saw Republican Trump beat Democratic rival Hillary Clinton .

(Image: AFP) (Image: REX/Shutterstock)

Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Richard Burr said on Wednesday that his panel had made several attempts to contact Steele and to meet him and "those offers have gone unaccepted."

"The committee cannot really decide the credibility of the dossier without understanding things like who paid for it, who are your sources and sub-sources," Burr said.

Reuters reported that Mueller's team had taken over multiple strands of FBI investigations related to possible financial and personal links between Trump, his associates and Russia.

Steele met with FBI representatives before the election to discuss his findings on Trump and Russia.

(Image: REUTERS) (Image: TASS)

He had been investigating Trump's alleged ties to Russia for a research firm that had been hired by supporters of Clinton.

The dossier made a string of lurid claims about Trump’s activities during a past trip to Moscow and claimed he was vulnerable to blackmail.

It alleged that Russia held evidence of Trump hiring prostitutes during a visit to Moscow to urinate on a hotel bed which he believed to have previously been slept in by former President Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama.