During the 2016 elections, a dossier that was passed around news outlets, among government officials, and among U.S. intelligence agencies created rumors that the Russians had compromising information on President Donald Trump, and helped provide the impetus for the Russia investigations in Congress and through the special prosecutor.
Yet, in these investigations, the dossier itself has become a point of interest, as no news outlet, congressional committee, or intelligence agency has been able to verify its contents.
When two heads of Fusion GPS, the company that created the dossier, testified before Congress recently, they pleaded the Fifth on every question asked by members of the committee to avoid revealing self-incriminating information. When the committee subpoenaed Fusion GPS’s bank records in order to learn who financed the report, Fusion GPS went to court to block the subpoena.
On Oct. 24, however, The Washington Post revealed that the infamous dossier was financed by the Hillary Clinton campaign and by the Democratic National Committee (DNC).
During an Oct. 25 discussion of the news with reporters, Trump said, “the hoax has turned around.”
On Oct. 21, Trump tweeted that “Officials behind the now discredited ‘Dossier’ plead the Fifth. Justice Department and/or FBI should immediately release who paid for it.”
When The Washington Post released details on who was behind the dossier, it was allegedly done as a calculated move meant to frame the information in a sympathetic light for the Clinton campaign and the DNC.
The Daily Caller noted on Oct. 24 that a lawyer at Perkins Coie—where Hillary Clinton’s lawyer, Marc Elias, is a partner—sent a letter to the attorney at Fusion GPS, which allowed the firm to reveal the Clinton campaign and DNC as the financiers.
The report cites the alleged letter giving clearance for the release, which states, “In the circumstances, we believe it is appropriate to release Fusion GPS from this obligation as it relates to the identity of Perkins Coie.”
Trump also noted that the release appeared calculated. He said, “Look, Hillary would have never announced it was them, except for this great court case that’s going on where the judge was going to reveal it. So they figured we'll do it first. They’re very embarrassed by it—it’s a disgrace.”
In addition, reporters with the New York Times revealed that the Clinton team had lied to them about the dossier.
“Folks involved in funding this lied about it, and with sanctimony, for a year,” said New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman in an Oct. 24 tweet.
Ken Vogel, also a New York Times reporter, tweeted on Oct. 24, “When I tried to report this story, Clinton campaign lawyer @marceelias pushed back vigorously, saying ‘You (or your sources) are wrong.’”
Trump said the dossier was “made up.”
“I understand they paid a tremendous amount of money—and Hillary Clinton always denied it, the Democrats always denied it,” Trump said. “And now, only because it’s going to come out in a court case, they said yes they did it, they admitted it, and they’re embarrassed by it. But I think it’s a disgrace.”
Trump said he believes the Democrats created the still-unproven conspiracy that he colluded with Russia as a way to get back for losing the election. “It’s an election that’s very hard for a Democrat to lose,” he said, noting that he won 306 electoral college votes to Hillary’s 232. “They lost it by a lot, they didn’t know what to say, so they made up the whole Russia hoax.”
“I think it’s very sad what they’ve done with this fake dossier,” Trump said. “It’s a very sad commentary on politics in this country.”
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