Christopher Steele - Trump Dossier Author
While most in the media continue to
focus on a meeting that all parties involved say resulted in no damaging
material against Hillary Clinton, there’s little attention being paid to the
fact that Hillary’s supporters were able to successfully use a foreign
intelligence agent to disseminate false information to the mainstream American
press.
The phony information allegedly came from inside the Kremlin and sought
to damage then-candidate Donald Trump.
Newly-released British court
documents show that Fusion GPS, an “oppo firm” funded by Hillary’s supporters,
successfully managed to get a former spy to discuss the phony foreign
intelligence with The New York Times, The Washington Post, Yahoo News, The New
Yorker, Mother Jones and CNN.
From McClatchy:
“Later, Democrats paid for the same
research on Trump’s past and alleged Russian ties.
Fusion GPS contracted with Steele,
who had once worked as an undercover spy in Moscow.
The court document lifted a
veil on Washington’s inner workings, with Steele laying out how Fusion briefed
select reporters on the material for which it and Steele had been paid to
gather.
‘The journalists initially briefed
at the end of September 2016 by the Second Defendant (Steele) and Fusion at
Fusion’s instruction were from the New York Times, the Washington Post, Yahoo
News, the New Yorker and CNN,’ Steele’s lawyers said, adding that he “verbally
and in person” briefed the first three organizations in mid-October and a
reporter from Mother Jones via Skype.”
On the heels of a CNN report refuting Clinton campaign officials’
claims that the DNC never worked with a foreign government to dig up dirt on
Donald Trump, we now know that Democrats actually used a foreign agent to
disseminate phony information to the American mainstream media that allegedly
came from inside the Kremlin.
And hardly anyone is paying
any attention to it.
Background
Fusion GPS is an opposition
research firm funded by Hillary Clinton supporters in the summer of 2016.
“But congressional sources say it’s actually an
opposition-research group for Democrats, and the founders, who are more
political activists than journalists, have a pro-Hillary Clinton, anti-Trump
agenda. ‘These weren’t mercenaries or hired guns,’ a congressional source
familiar with the dossier probe said. ‘These guys had a vested personal and
ideological interest in smearing Trump and boosting Hillary’s chances of
winning the White House.’
"Fusion GPS was on the payroll of an unidentified
Democratic ally of Clinton when it hired a long-retired British spy to dig up
dirt on Trump. In 2012, Democrats hired Fusion GPS to uncover dirt on GOP
presidential nominee Mitt Romney. And in 2015, Democratic ally Planned
Parenthood retained Fusion GPS to investigate pro-life activists protesting the
abortion group.
"Moreover, federal records show a key co-founder and partner in
the firm was a Hillary Clinton donor and supporter of her presidential
campaign.” (Paul Sperry, Sketchy firm behind Trump dossier is stalling
investigators,” New York Post, 6/24/17)
Fusion GPS hired foreign
intelligence agent Christopher Steele to compile the now-infamous dossier
containing unproven allegations against President Trump.
“Fusion GPS, which
is based in Washington DC and was established by former Wall Street Journal
reporters Glenn Simpson and Peter Fritsch, found itself in the spotlight
earlier this year after it emerged it was behind an “oppo research” dossier
containing unproven and often salacious allegations about Mr Trump.
"The company
had originally been hired by Republican rivals of Mr Trump during the primary
campaign. After he secured the party's nomination, the company was instead paid
by Democratic financial supporters of Ms Clinton.
"In the summer of 2016, GPS
hired former British intelligence agent, Christopher Steele, to help their
work.” (Andrew Buncombe, “Russian lawyer who met with Donald Trump Jr linked to
investigation group behind salacious Steele Dossier,” The Independent, 7/10/17)
Steele “once worked as an undercover
spy in Moscow.”
“Fusion GPS contracted with Steele,
who had once worked as an undercover spy in Moscow.” (Kevin G. Hall,
“John McCain faces questions in Trump-Russia dossier case,” McClatchy, 7/11/17)
The dossier contains several
anonymous sources from inside the Kremlin.
“The
dossier quotes from a large number of anonymous sources. It cites ‘a former top
level Russian intelligence officer still active inside the Kremlin’, ‘a senior
Russian foreign ministry figure’ and “a senior Russian financial official’.”
(Luke Harding, “What we know – and what’s true – about the Trump-Russia
dossier,” The Guardian, 1/11/17)
Despite denials from multiple DNC
and former Clinton campaign officials, a DNC contractor worked with the
Ukrainian government “to dig up dirt on Donald Trump and his top aides.”
“Multiple Democratic National Committee officials, former
Clinton campaign officials and Democratic sources denied that the Democratic
committee or Clinton campaign worked with the government of Ukraine to dig up
dirt on Donald Trump and his top aides.
"But multiple Democratic sources said
that a DNC contractor, whose work included organizing political events for
Ukranian-Americans, did tell DNC operatives that Ukrainian officials would be
willing to deliver damaging information on Trump's campaign and, most notably,
Paul Manafort, his then-campaign head who has previously advised Viktor
Yanukovych, the former Ukrainian President who has close ties to Moscow.” (Dan
Merica, “DNC denies working with Ukrainian government, but contractor floated
anti-Trump material,” CNN, 7/12/17)
Compiled by the Republican National
Committee
