by WorldTribune Staff, January 18, 2018
Ex-British spy Christopher Steele met with an old FBI contact who shared with Steele information on alleged Trump campaign ties to Russia, reports say.
In an October 2016 meeting in Rome, the FBI agent provided to Steele, who authored the discredited Trump dossier, the name of former Trump campaign adviser George Papadopoulos, Washington Post columnist David Ignatius noted on Jan. 17.
“At this meeting, the FBI official asked Steele if he had ever heard of Papadopoulos,” Ignatius reported, citing an official familiar with the meeting.
According to Ignatius, Steele had not heard of Papadopoulos.
Meanwhile, investigative journalist Sara Carter reported on Jan. 16 that Fusion GPS continues to investigate alleged ties between the Trump campaign and Russia.
“What’s not known is who is paying for the continuing research?” Carter wrote.
Papadopoulos, who joined the Trump campaign as a volunteer adviser in March 2016, pleaded guilty in October to lying to the FBI about his contacts with Russian nationals while working on the campaign.
Congressional Republicans have also questioned the FBI’s relationship with Steele.
The Daily Caller noted on Jan. 17 that “It has been reported that when they met with Steele in October, he was offered $50,000 if he could corroborate information about the Trump campaign’s ties to Russia.”
“Congress needs to determine the role played by Fusion GPS in the Russia matter and that includes any current Fusion activity,” Rep. Ron DeSantis, Florida Republican and Chairman of the National Security Subcommittee, told Carter. “Fusion has not been forthright with Congress and the American people deserve the facts.”
The New York Times first reported on Jan. 8 that the work of Fusion GPS, led by co-founder Glenn Simpson, “has not stopped. Fusion continues to look into ties between Mr. Trump and Russia, according to several people briefed on the research. Mr. Simpson’s specific areas of focus, and information about any current benefactors, are closely guarded.”
A Republican congressional staff member told Carter on condition of anonymity that “it’s imperative to know who’s paying Fusion GPS for its current investigation.”
“There appears to be a concerted effort on the part of the Dems to try to deflect from the explosive information now in the hands of the committees and we still don’t have the answers we need regarding Fusion’s role,” the congressional staff member said.
The Washington Post revealed in October that Hillary Clinton’s campaign and the Democratic National Committee paid Fusion GPS to fund the Trump dossier.
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