Feinstein Posts Full Testimony Of Fusion GPS Founder On Trump Dossier, Grassley Furious

Just four days after two GOP Senators asked the DOJ to launch a criminal probe  of Christopher Steele, the ex-MI6 British spy who was the author of the Trump dossier, and which according to many served as the basis for the Russian collusion probe, on Tuesday afternoon Senator Dianne Feinstein released the full 312-page transcript of the Judiciary Committee’s closed-door interview with Glenn Simpson, a former journalist and co-founder of Fusion GPS, which commissioned the controversial Donald Trump's dossier about alleged connections with Russians.

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Glenn Simpson on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., on Nov. 14, 2017

The unexpected release follows Fusion GPS' demand last week that the full transcript be released, sparking a fight with Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) over who was standing in the way of the document being released. The Senate Judiciary Committee interviewed Simpson in August as part of its investigation into Russia's election interference.

Needless to say, Grassley was furious, stating that it is "totally confounding that Senator Feinstein would unilaterally release a transcript of a witness interview in the middle of an ongoing investigation" and that "Her action undermines the integrity of the committee’s oversight work and jeopardizes its ability to secure candid voluntary testimony relating to the independent recollections of future witnesses."

There are some snarkier takes on the Fusion GPS demand to have the transcript released: as Sean Davis of the Federalist notes, "At the demand of Fusion GPS, @SenFeinstein put Fusion GPS's testimony on her website. In the interest of transparency. While redacting the names of Fusion's partners. Amazing."

As Davis also adds, "It's almost like Fusion GPS was more interested in aligning future DOJ witness testimony with its own claims than it was with actual transparency."

As for Simpson, he has emerged as the central figure in the probes into Russian election interference after his firm helped assemble a controversial dossier tying President Trump to Russia. Former British spy Christopher Steele compiled the document, which includes unverified allegations against Trump and his links to Moscow.

As Bloomberg adds, Republicans and Democrats tangled in recent weeks over the origins of the dossier, which was funded in part by Trump’s political opponents, and how the FBI and other agencies may have used the dossier in their investigations.

“The innuendo and misinformation circulating about the transcript are part of a deeply troubling effort to undermine the investigation into potential collusion and obstruction of justice," Feinstein said in a statement. “The only way to set the record straight is to make the transcript public.”

The full transcript details Glenn Simpson's August 22 interview. It shows that Simpson told the Senate Judiciary Committee that the author of the dossier, former British spy Christopher Steele, decided to approach the FBI in July 2016 to brief the bureau on his findings about Trump.

"He thought from his perspective there was an issue -- a security issue about whether a presidential candidate was being blackmailed,” Simpson said. He added that when Steele met with an FBI official in September, the official told Steele the bureau "had other intelligence about this matter from an internal Trump campaign source."

As reported previously, Fusion was initially hired by conservative website, Washington Free Beacon, during the Republican primaries to dig up dirt on Trump. Later in the 2016 presidential campaign, Trump’s opponent Hillary Clinton and the Democratic National Committee paid Fusion GPS through a law firm for some of the research that resulted in the dossier.

The 35-page report drew on information from Russian contacts and concluded that Russia had been “cultivating, supporting and assisting” Trump for at least five years and fed his campaign “valuable intelligence” about Clinton.

Trump has derided the findings, as recently as Dec. 26 when he wrote on Twitter: “‘Dossier is bogus. Clinton Campaign, DNC funded Dossier. FBI CANNOT (after all of this time) VERIFY CLAIMS IN DOSSIER OF RUSSIA/TRUMP COLLUSION. FBI TAINTED.’ And they used this Crooked Hillary pile of garbage as the basis for going after the Trump Campaign!”

Finally, and speaking of transparency, see if you can spot it in the examples below:

Full transcript below (link)

Comments

itstippy aliens is here Jan 9, 2018 2:58 PM

The old broad finally did something good, and the ZH crowd is bashing her for it.  Red Team/Blue Team/Team Trump mindset cannot be overcome.

The transcript was released by Feinstein after assurances from the DNC that it was legal to do and beneficial to do it, I'm sure.  Who knows why at this point.  Maybe Wikileaks had it and the DNC is stealing their thunder?  I dunno, but the transcript should have been in the public domain long ago; it doesn't contain any threats to our beloved National Security.

In reply to by aliens is here

seek Jan 9, 2018 2:36 PM

My guess is Feinstein just went into her default CYA mode, or this is one last ditch to get mileage out of this before it all collapses.

Chupacabra-322 seek Jan 9, 2018 2:38 PM

@ seek,

 

The Pure Evil War Criminal Treasonous Seditious Psychopaths at the CIA have had decades to redact, reword, reScript & rewrite the False Narratives to re Gas Light the masses.

It’s conceivable to assume any material being “declassified” & released as being absolute, complete, fabricated Scripted, False Narrative, PsyOp Lies of the Highest Order.

In reply to by seek

Mike Masr Jan 9, 2018 2:37 PM

Fusion GPS is where are the so-called credible horse shit intel came from. Fusion GPS concocted bullshit all dressed up as intel by our beloved deep-state owned FBI and disseminated to all 14 or 17 or whatever so-called spy agencies that said "Russia did it" and interfered in our election.

What a fucking joke. Just like the intel that said Saddam had WMD's.

Winston Churchill Mike Masr Jan 9, 2018 2:46 PM

The question is.Was that the the real motive to fabricate it in the first place ?

Like an insurance policy.There at least another layer we haven't seen anything of,yet.

It leads right to the Oval orrifice.Just look at Obozo's actions,he is implicated whichever way you

look at it,has to have been in on it, if not the instigator.

In reply to by Mike Masr

Negative Interest Jan 9, 2018 2:37 PM

Buying his condos.  He bragged that he was the one who started half selling his rooms.  Maybe it was a Russian idea.  Somewhere to put their money.  Five years it says

lew1024 Jan 9, 2018 2:38 PM

Drip, drip, drip.

Trump's draining of the Deep Swamp will dominate the news for the next decade.  His chosen successor will carry on the legacy of The Greatest President, Donald Trump.

Discordian doctrine is validated yet again, attempts to impose a particular order creates the disorder which will end it. Enduring order can only evolve, it cannot be imposed.

gearjammers1 Jan 9, 2018 2:41 PM

Simpson/samson/simmons/simon - Simpson dude looks just like Jew Leon Trotksy (whose true name was Levi Bronstein) - Jews are the name changers, they change their names to hide their evil intent.

VWAndy Jan 9, 2018 2:46 PM

 Why pay the price for have real integrity when you can get paid so well for virtue signaling?

 The important parts are redacted.

 This is the feral left thinking we are all to fucking stupid to notice.

Vin Jan 9, 2018 2:48 PM

"Her action undermines the integrity of the committee’s oversight work and jeopardizes its ability to secure candid voluntary testimony relating to the independent recollections of future witnesses."

And so, what's the punishment?

artvandalai Jan 9, 2018 2:50 PM

It seems to have the same net effect as something which might cause a mistrial if it happened in an actual court case.

konadog Jan 9, 2018 2:51 PM

Maybe you better add some transcript control in Crimestein's next attempt to repeal the Second Amendment.

Bay Area Guy Jan 9, 2018 2:51 PM

She's running for reelection yet again and if memory serves, she has a real couple of competitors going after her in the primary. She probably figures this gets her in good with the anti-Trumpers, of which something like 65% of Californians probably are.

headhunt Jan 9, 2018 2:54 PM

According to Feinstein, everything is important in this report except the important stuff - like names...

bh2 Jan 9, 2018 2:55 PM

There's nothing that says Grassley cannot release the same interview with no redactions. In the interest of transparency, of course.

Bondo Jan 9, 2018 3:03 PM

blatantly ensuring everyone gets their story straight. 

the lawlessness and corruption in this country is beyond belief. 

lady justice has been raped and pimped out on the street.