Reuters / Leah Mills
Christopher Steele—the former British secret agent who compiled the infamous dossier about Donald Trump’s relationship with Russia—has broken an 18-month silence to take a swipe at the president. Steele praised people who speak “unpalatable truths to power” and condemned Trump’s administration as “distorted and one-sided.” He was writing in Vanity Fair after being named one of the 100 most influential people in the media, politics, entertainment, and finance. “In these strange and troubling times, it is hard to speak unpalatable truths to power, but I believe we all still have a duty to do so,” he wrote. “I salute those on your list, and otherwise, who have had the courage to speak out over the last year, often at great personal cost. At a time when governance is so distorted and one-sided, as I believe it currently is in the United States, the media has a key role to play in holding it accountable.”