Ivanka Trump's secret friendship with former MI6 agent Christopher Steele "severely damaged" her relationship with her father Donald Trump, according to the ex-spy.
The shocking revelation emerged on Wednesday, RadarOnline.com has learned after Trump sued the company founded by Steele, who created a dossier in 2016 that contained rumors about Trump that erupted just before he was inaugurated.
Trump is seeking damages from Orbis Business Intelligence for allegedly violating British data protection laws, while Steele's firm wants to have the case tossed.
Steele said he formed a bond with Ivanka that spanned for quite some time while making a witness statement as part of legal proceedings in London.
"I informed them that I had in fact had a friendship and professional relationship with Ivanka Trump … for several years," he claimed to have told the DOJ, according to The Times of London, which reported on his witness statement this week. "My understanding is that Ms Trump had not disclosed our relationship to her father."
Steele also blamed Trump's alleged "vindictive and vexatious conduct" on the former president being criticized over that friendship, the Times reported, which Trump wholeheartedly denied as a "reckless" claim in his own witness statement.
"Any inference or allegation that Mr Steele makes about my relationship with my daughter is untrue and disgraceful," the embattled GOP frontrunner stated.
According to reports, Ivanka has been focused on her husband and her children amid her father's growing legal troubles after distancing herself from politics.