The dossier is a collection of what former FBI director James Comey called “salacious and unverified” allegations of collusion between Russia and Trump campaign figures in the 2016 campaign. The Russia allegations were compiled by a former British spy, Christopher Steele, who was commissioned by the opposition research firm Fusion GPS, which is thought to have been paid for the work by wealthy supporters of Hillary Clinton. The FBI reportedly considered taking over the dossier project in the fall of 2016, when the campaign was at its height, leading Senate Judiciary Committee chairman Charles Grassley to say the dossier matter raised “questions about the FBI’s independence from politics.”Four weeks ago, the House Intelligence Committee subpoenaed the FBI and the Department of Justice to produce documents, including:
Both Grassley and the House Intelligence Committee have been interested in learning if the FBI ever used the “salacious and unverified” dossier as a basis for requesting surveillance on anyone in the Trump circle. Those questions only intensified this week with reports that the FBI wiretapped Trump associate and former campaign chairman Paul Manafort during the transition period.
…all internal FBI reports “incorporating, relying on, or referring to” information provided by Steele, his sources, or Fusion GPS. The committee also asked for documents on any FBI or Justice “efforts to corroborate, validate, or evaluate” Steele’s information. And the subpoena sought any surveillance applications that included any information, or were based on any information, provided by Steele.The original deadline for production was September 1. The deadline has been extended twice, most recently until today, and the FBI still has not responded.
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11 comments:
"Interviewer, S.L.: Do you think the Russians really have something on Trump?
Former British spy, B.M.: I can tell you what the veterans of the S.I.S. [the British Secret Intelligence Service, or MI6] think, which is yes, kompromat [compromising info] was done on him. Of course, kompromat is done on everyone. So they end up, the theory goes, with this compromising bit of material and then they begin to release parts of it. They set up an ex-MI6 guy, Chris Steele, who is a patsy, effectively, and they feed him some stuff that’s true, and some stuff that isn’t true, and some stuff that is demonstrably wrong. Which means that Trump can then stand up and deny it, while knowing that the essence of it is true. And then he has a stone in his shoe for the rest of his administration.
It’s important to remember that Putin is a K.G.B.-trained officer, and he thinks in the traditional K.G.B. way.
Former British spy, wrote Spy Who Came in from the Cold, etc., J.L.C.: The mentality that is operating in Russia now is absolutely, as far as Putin is concerned, no different to the mentality that drove the most exotic conspiracies during the Cold War. It worked then, it works now. As far as Trump, I would suspect they have it, because they’ve denied it. If they have it and they’ve set Trump up, they’d say, “Oh no, we haven’t got anything.” But to Trump they’re saying, “Aren’t we being kind to you?”
B.M.: And today you get this wonderful Russian lawyer woman [Natalia Veselnitskaya, who was in the pre-election meeting at Trump Tower with Donald Trump Jr.] who is straight out of one of our books, a character that is possibly connected to the Russian state. Who knows? They exist somewhere in that foggy, deniable hinterland. It’s called maskirovka — little masquerade — where you create so much confusion and uncertainty and mystery that no one knows what the truth is.
J.L.C.: For Putin, it’s a kind of little piece of background music to keep things going. The smoking gun might or might not be the documents exchanged about the Trump Tower in Moscow [which Trump is said to have been planning to build]. Then there’s the really seedy stuff in the Caucasus. There are bits of scandal which, if added up, might suggest he went to Russia for money. And that would then fit in with the fact that he isn’t half as, a tenth as rich as he pretends to be.
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/28/books/review-john-le-carre-legacy-of-spies.html
York is one of the NeverTrumper crowd at NR, so, as always, consider the source.
BTW Both Pissy and the Ozark Mafia killed themselves to pack the FBI with their loyalists (Comey), so this does not surprise.
PS deborah, I'm curious about BM. You should also take anything from the Gray Lady with a large grain of salt.
PPS If you knew what a joke British intel and covert ops were in WWII, you'd take it with a larger grain of salt.
TrumpCucks make me nervous. Anyone who worships any other "leader" with unquestioning blind faith is not a trusted source.
I know, Ed, just thought it was interesting that Steele was looked at by them as a possible patsy.
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/28/books/review-john-le-carre-legacy-of-spies.html
Tell Medusa we've had 2 years to see who tells the truth and who doesn't. And York, like many of his NR buds, does still have an axe to grind. It is why they still front for Songbird against The Donald.
Ah poor wittle Ed. How dare anyone say anything bad about his his dear trusted perfect leader.
the New York Liberal.
Perhaps considering the source, getting pithy, suggesting more salt, and defending whomever he wants to defend is something edutcher enjoys doing.
I personally don't enjoy or find baby talk appealing when it turns up in comments here from otherwise seemingly intelligent adult women.
As peccadilloes go, however, on a blog devoted to levity and the throwing down of fresh and rancid red meat for the sake of a rise and the stirring of the base, its tolerable when taken with a large grain of salt.
Ed is a TrumpCuck. He is obsessed with anyone he deems a "neverTrumper" and it's long past tired. Just like Ed himself.
...So the wittle comment fits like a glove - the grown man who cannot tolerate anyone who doesn't worship with blind faith, his highness the DJT.
Pass the salt.
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