In a subsequent post, Fallon responded to a reporter’s question asking why Marc Elias, the Clinton campaign lawyer, had kept mum on the matter for so long. 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 October 25, 2017 But he made no apologies, tweeting, “I have no idea what Fusion or Steele were paid but if even a shred of that dossier ends up helping (Justice Department special counsel Robert) Mueller, it will prove money well spent.” Indeed, as reported by CNN on Thursday, both Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta and former DNC chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz denied to congressional Russia investigators that they had any knowledge about an arrangement to research Trump.Įxclusive: In Hill interviews, top Dems denied knowledge of payments to firm behind Trump dossierīrian Fallon, the campaign’s national press secretary and now a CNN political contributor, tweeted on Tuesday that he wasn’t aware of the connections. The first explanation, as given in various forms by former campaign officials and the DNC, is that they didn’t know. And the result is the fact that the Clinton campaign funded this research could very well take some wind out of the sails of those outraged about Trump’s emissaries potentially working with a foreign power. The Clinton campaign and the DNC could have simply told reporters they had entered into a deal with Fusion GPS months ago, cutting off whatever speculation was out there and effectively forestalled this new drama. If it’s no big deal, why didn’t Clinton’s team and the DNC share this earlier? Note: Opposition research – as dirty and secretive as it can be – is an everyday part of US elections. (Your eye-rolling friend would, right about now, pop up to ask, “Well, who else would it have been?” It’s a fair question.) So again, the new thing here is not that Democrats paid Fusion GPS, and so helped – wittingly or unwittingly – to bankroll Steele’s work, but that it was, specifically, Clinton’s campaign and the DNC. As noted above, the Democrats first started work with Fusion GPS in April 2016 – the month in which it became undeniably clear Trump was on his way to becoming the GOP nominee. It makes perfect sense if you look at a calendar. Trump became the nominee, further investigation was funded by groups and donors supporting Hillary Clinton.”Įven more simply put, Republicans began this specific effort to gather dirt on Trump and, when they pulled back, Democrats took it over. Trump during the GOP primaries, multiple sources confirmed to CNN. Trump were initially funded by groups and donors supporting Republican opponents of Mr. In a story like this, even seemingly minor details can tweak the narrative.Īs CNN reported in January 2017, a summary of Steele’s file was presented by senior US intel chiefs to both President Barack Obama and President-elect Trump a few weeks before Inauguration Day.Īlso in that story, and especially relevant now: “(Steele’s) investigations related to Mr. And it was Steele, working for Fusion GPS sometime after it hooked up with the Democrats, who compiled the now-famous dossier. Some of that research became the dossier of allegations about the now-President and Russia.įusion GPS is the research group that hired as a subcontractor the former British intelligence officer Christopher Steele. The law firm for the Hillary Clinton’s campaign and the Democratic National Committee has acknowledged its clients’ role in paying a company called Fusion GPS for opposition research on Trump. The fight is over what’s relevant to the bigger picture – and whether anything has materially changed. None of the major facts revealed this week are being disputed. But it boils down to a question of priorities. So, what happened – and what matters? Partisans, especially Clinton and Trump loyalists, would give you very different answers. This latest round of new details poses all the usual complications. Like with so much else attached or adjacent to the Russia investigation – from President Donald Trump’s campaign and its associates to Clinton and hers – separating the noise from the news can be an exhausting endeavor. The long probe into Russia’s meddling in the 2016 presidential election took another turn this week when it was revealed that Hillary Clinton’s campaign helped fund the creation of the controversial Trump dossier.
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