by WorldTribune Staff, September 20, 2018
Then-FBI Director James Comey in 2016 supported the inclusion of the unverified anti-Trump dossier in the U.S. intelligence community’s assessment of Russian meddling in the 2016 election, a report said.
The Washington Times reported on Sept. 19, citing two former senior officials, that as the intel assessment was being drafted the FBI wanted to include allegations and observations from the dossier’s author, ex-British spy Christopher Steele.
One source said Comey directly advocated inclusion of the dossier while a second source told the Times that FBI officials definitely wanted Steele’s charges included but could not single out Comey as the main driver.
The sources said James Clapper, then director of national intelligence, and John Brennan, then director of the CIA, objected on grounds that the dossier remained largely unconfirmed and was not vetted by U.S. intelligence.
“The IC assessment was corroborated intelligence that involved what the intelligence community agreed with,” the source told the Washington Times. “The dossier was a totally separate thing that had not gone through that type of process, so it should not be included. That was the decision that was made.”
Comey, through a spokesman, declined to comment to the Times.
“The Comey-led bureau became heavily invested in the dossier while knowing the charges were anti-Trump opposition research financed by Hillary Clinton’s campaign and the Democratic National Committee,” Rowan Scarborough wrote in the Times report.
None of Steele’s specific collusion charges against Trump associates has been confirmed publicly.
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