Cortney hopped on this bombshell last night. It appears that the Democratic National Committee and the Clinton campaign funded the unverified and salacious Trump dossier that is served as the basis for the Trump-Russia collusion story. Marc Elias, a lawyer with the Clinton campaign and the DNC, hired Fusion GPS to pay former MI6 spy Christopher Steele for the information, as reported by The Washington Post:
The Hillary Clinton campaign and the Democratic National Committee helped fund research that resulted in a now-famous dossier containing allegations about President Trump’s connections to Russia and possible coordination between his campaign and the Kremlin, people familiar with the matter said.
Marc E. Elias, a lawyer representing the Clinton campaign and the DNC, retained Fusion GPS, a Washington firm, to conduct the research.
After that, Fusion GPS hired dossier author Christopher Steele, a former British intelligence officer with ties to the FBI and the U.S. intelligence community, according to those people, who spoke on the condition of anonymity.
Elias and his law firm, Perkins Coie, retained the company in April 2016 on behalf of the Clinton campaign and the DNC. Before that agreement, Fusion GPS’s research into Trump was funded by an unknown Republican client during the GOP primary.
The Clinton campaign and the DNC, through the law firm, continued to fund Fusion GPS’s research through the end of October 2016, days before Election Day.
My, oh my—have the tables have turned. Yet, some Clinton aides, still sour over their epic and stunning loss to President Donald J. Trump, took to Twitter to voice their support of Elias—with former Clinton spokesperson Brian Fallon saying he would have gone and helped Steele with the dossier. Again, the dossier is not verified, but Fallon added he would have held a Comey-style presser if he had a copy of it prior to Election Day. The Wall Street Journal’s Kimberley Strassel commented how this was a totally insane thread, noting that the Russians possibly manipulated the information contained in the documents.
I regret I didnt know about Christopher Steele's hiring pre-election. If I had, I would have volunteered to go to Europe and try to help him
— Brian Fallon (@brianefallon) October 25, 2017
If I'd gotten his dossier before Nov 8, I may have tried to convince Mook & Podesta to let me hold a Comey-style press conference to read it
— Brian Fallon (@brianefallon) October 25, 2017
I have no idea what Fusion or Steele were paid but if even a shred of that dossier ends up helping Mueller, it will prove money well spent
— Brian Fallon (@brianefallon) October 25, 2017
And all this time I thought @marceelias was merely best election lawyer & voting rights lawyer in U.S. Proud to have shared foxhole with him
— Brian Fallon (@brianefallon) October 25, 2017
Some of the Republicans pouncing on dossier story tonight are surely in for a self-own when we learn who funded project during GOP primary.
— Brian Fallon (@brianefallon) October 25, 2017
***
Fallon: “My bosses commissioned a doc that might have been manipulated by Russians. Wish I’d helped”. And folk say Trump is unhinged. https://t.co/xSREmK9M6p
— Kimberley Strassel (@KimStrassel) October 25, 2017
Join the conversation as a VIP Member