The Clinton camp and DNC funded what became the Trump-Russia dossier: Here’s what it means
By Aaron Blake October 25 at 6:30 AM
Play Video 2:31
Clinton’s campaign helped fund the research that led to the Russia dossier
0:00
The Washington Post’s Adam Entous looks at the role that Hillary Clinton’s campaign and the Democratic National Committee played in funding the research that led to a dossier containing allegations about President Trump’s links to Russia. (Video: Bastien Inzaurralde, Patrick Martin/Photo: Melina Mara/The Washington Post)
This post has been updated.
The Washington Post broke the story Tuesday night that the Hillary Clinton campaign and the Democratic National Committee helped pay for that now-famous dossier of research on President Trump.
The Post's Adam Entous, Devlin Barrett and Rosalind S. Helderman report that powerful Democratic attorney Marc E. Elias retained the firm Fusion GPS for information, and Fusion GPS later hired Christopher Steele, a former British intelligence agent who was versed in Russia-related issues.
The dossier, which was published by BuzzFeed News in January, has been partially confirmed, though its most salacious allegations have not been.
There is a lot to sort through here. Below are four key points.
1) Clinton supporters — though not the campaign itself — were previously reported to fund the dossier
The fact Democrats were behind the funding for the dossier is not totally new. When CNN first reported on the dossier's existence back in January, it said the research effort was originally funded by President Trump's GOP opponents and then, when he won the nomination, by those supporting Clinton.
CNN reported back then that their sources "said that once Mr. Trump became the nominee, further investigation was funded by groups and donors supporting Hillary Clinton."
Until now, though, the dossier had not been tied specifically to the Clinton campaign or the DNC.
2) Yes, the dossier was funded by Democrats
Some of the pushback on the left has focused on the fact that a still-unidentified Republican client retained Fusion GPS to do research on Trump before the Clinton campaign and the DNC did. Thus, they argue, it's wrong to say the dossier was just funded by Democrats.
But The Post is reporting that the dossier's author, Steele, wasn't brought into the mix until after Democrats retained Fusion GPS. So while both sides paid Fusion GPS, Steele was only funded by Democrats.
3) Trump's allegation of FBI payments is still dubious
After the story posted, some on the right seized upon The Post noting the FBI had agreed to pay Steele for information after the campaign. The argument seemed to be that the FBI was engaged in a witch hunt against Trump using Democrats' sources.
But The Post originally reported on the FBI's agreement back in February. At the time, it also reported it never actually paid for the work after the agent was identified in news reports:
The former British spy who authored a controversial dossier on behalf of Donald Trump’s political opponents alleging ties between Trump and Russia reached an agreement with the FBI a few weeks before the election for the bureau to pay him to continue his work, according to several people familiar with the arrangement.
. . .
Ultimately, the FBI did not pay Steele. Communications between the bureau and the former spy were interrupted as Steele’s now-famous dossier became the subject of news stories, congressional inquiries and presidential denials, according to the people familiar with the arrangement, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter.
Despite there being no proof the FBI actually paid Steele, Trump suggested it might have in a tweet last week — along with “Russia . . . or the Dems (or all)." Of those three groups, only Democrats have been reported to have actually paid Steele. And again, that was already kind-of known.
Follow
Donald J. Trump ✔@realDonaldTrump
Workers of firm involved with the discredited and Fake Dossier take the 5th. Who paid for it, Russia, the FBI or the Dems (or all)?
There is, presumably, a reason Democrats haven't copped to funding the dossier — something they still haven't publicly confirmed. Fusion GPS threatening to plead the Fifth Amendment against self-incrimination also raised eyebrows last week.
First among those reasons is paying a foreigner for opposition research for an American political campaign. Given Democrats' argument that Russia's interference on Trump's behalf was beyond the pale, the Clinton camp and the DNC paying a Brit for information would seem somewhat problematic.
(The Clinton campaign has also, notably, denied working with the Ukrainian government to dig up dirt on Trump. Republicans have pushed dubious comparisons between the Ukraine allegation and Russia's alleged Trump advocacy.)
Some on the right even alleged that Democrats paying Steele amounts to "collusion" with foreigners. But Russia-Steele comparisons aren't apples-to-apples. The British after all are, unlike the Russians, America's allies. Also, Steele was not acting as an agent of a foreign government, which is what would likely be required to prove collusion in the case of the Trump campaign and Russia.
Separately, the firm that the Clinton camp and the DNC paid also has alleged ties to the Kremlin. In Senate testimony in July, Hermitage Capital Management chief executive William Browder accused Fusion GPS and its head, Glenn Simpson, of running a smear campaign against Sergei Magnitsky, a Russian whistleblower who in 2009 was tortured and killed in a Russian prison after uncovering a $230 million tax theft. Magnitsky worked for Browder, and his name was used for a U.S. law containing sanctions that was passed by Congress and is a sore spot between the U.S. government and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
__________________
Sometimes you're the windshield, and sometimes you're the bug.
LOLLLLLLLLLLLLL so the Post was given this info since a warrant for testimony was going to issues and so Fushion GPS gave it up to the Post. I am sure Jeb Bush was the candidate that started the search and the DNC/Clinton paid for the fake dossier to be written.
The collapse is happening, I am enjoying it.
__________________
Sometimes you're the windshield, and sometimes you're the bug.
I think when the dust finally settles, someone will be either in prison or dead.
__________________
A flock of flirting flamingos is pure, passionate, pink pandemonium-a frenetic flamingle-mangle-a discordant discotheque of delirious dancing, flamboyant feathers, and flamingo lingo.
Yeah, now they are trying to say the Reps funded the dossier. Uh, no, the reps stopped funding oppo research when the primaries ended and the dems picked up the ball and created the dossier. Nice try losers.
