13 Jun 2019 5:31 pm
Why the Steele dossier is a red herring in the response to Trump's 'oppo research' comments
President Trump's stunning admission that he would accept damaging information about his political rivals from foreign governments without necessarily alerting the FBI left his Republican allies in Congress on Thursday scrambling to come up with a defense.
And they quickly pivoted to one: the Steele dossier, the opposition-research document prepared by former British intelligence officer Christopher Steele that, along with other information, was a basis for the FBI’s investigation of the Trump campaign in 2016.
The dossier contained details of Russia’s contacts with Trump associates, some of which have been verified, along with unproven allegations about Trump’s behavior in Russia.
But there are key differences between the infamous dossier and the hypothetical situation Trump was asked about by ABC's George Stephanopoulos.
For one, Steele was working for a U.S. company and not a foreign government.
During the 2016 presidential primary, Fusion GPS, a Washington, D.C.-based research firm, was hired by the conservative outlet Washington Free Beacon to do opposition research on Trump on behalf of a Republican opposed to the businessman’s candidacy.
When the Beacon pulled out of the deal, Fusion approached Perkins Coie, a law firm representing the Democratic National Committee and Hillary Clinton’s campaign, and asked if it would like to fund it.
In April 2016, the firm agreed and Fusion continued its work, hiring Steele to investigate potential ties between Trump and the Russian government.
For another thing, the Steele dossier was not meant to be made public.
According to the Washington Post, the FBI — which had previously hired Steele to research corruption in professional soccer — had reached an agreement shortly before the election to pay him to continue his work on Trump.
But the bureau ultimately did not pay Steele, and the dossier leaked online shortly before Trump’s inauguration.
Trump and his allies have pointed to it as evidence of surveillance abuses.
“My Campaign for President was conclusively spied on,” Trump tweeted last month.
“Nothing like this has ever happened in American Politics. A really bad situation.
TREASON means long jail sentences, and this was TREASON!”
After the 2016 election, the dossier was obtained by Sen. John McCain, who was advised by Sen. Lindsey Graham to turn it over to the FBI.
President Trump's stunning admission that he would accept damaging information about his political rivals from foreign governments without necessarily alerting the FBI left his Republican allies in Congress on Thursday scrambling to come up with a defense.
And they quickly pivoted to one: the Steele dossier, the opposition-research document prepared by former British intelligence officer Christopher Steele that, along with other information, was a basis for the FBI’s investigation of the Trump campaign in 2016.
The dossier contained details of Russia’s contacts with Trump associates, some of which have been verified, along with unproven allegations about Trump’s behavior in Russia.
But there are key differences between the infamous dossier and the hypothetical situation Trump was asked about by ABC's George Stephanopoulos.
For one, Steele was working for a U.S. company and not a foreign government.
During the 2016 presidential primary, Fusion GPS, a Washington, D.C.-based research firm, was hired by the conservative outlet Washington Free Beacon to do opposition research on Trump on behalf of a Republican opposed to the businessman’s candidacy.
When the Beacon pulled out of the deal, Fusion approached Perkins Coie, a law firm representing the Democratic National Committee and Hillary Clinton’s campaign, and asked if it would like to fund it.
In April 2016, the firm agreed and Fusion continued its work, hiring Steele to investigate potential ties between Trump and the Russian government.
For another thing, the Steele dossier was not meant to be made public.
According to the Washington Post, the FBI — which had previously hired Steele to research corruption in professional soccer — had reached an agreement shortly before the election to pay him to continue his work on Trump.
But the bureau ultimately did not pay Steele, and the dossier leaked online shortly before Trump’s inauguration.
Trump and his allies have pointed to it as evidence of surveillance abuses.
“My Campaign for President was conclusively spied on,” Trump tweeted last month.
“Nothing like this has ever happened in American Politics. A really bad situation.
TREASON means long jail sentences, and this was TREASON!”
After the 2016 election, the dossier was obtained by Sen. John McCain, who was advised by Sen. Lindsey Graham to turn it over to the FBI.