Christopher Steele, the former British intelligence agent who compiled the hoax dossier alleging ties between President Donald Trump and Russia, refuses to cooperate with the Department of Justice’s investigation into the origins of the Obama administration’s spying on then-candidate Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign, according to Reuters.
A Reuters source close to Steele’s private investigation outfit, Orbis Business Intelligence, said the ex-spy has chosen not to answer questions from Connecticut’s U.S. Attorney John Durham, who was recently appointed by Attorney General William Barr to examine the probe’s origins. Reports of Steele’s unwillingness to cooperate with the Justice Department comes days after President Trump gave Barr authority to declassify intelligence materials related to the probe and ordered several law enforcement agencies, including the CIA and FBI to cooperate with Durham’s review.
In 2016, Steele was hired by the opposition research firm Fusion GPS tasked by attorneys for the Democratic National Committee and Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign to dig up dirt on President Trump. Steele’s dossier was used by the FBI to obtain a Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) warrant to surveil members of the Trump campaign, namely, onetime Trump campaign foreign policy advisor Carter Page. FBI officials did not disclose explicitly to the FISA court that the dossier was paid for by the DNC or the Clinton campaign. However, the bureau did indicate that the document was produced as opposition research.
One of America’s oldest manufacturers says AI is creating jobs — not replacing them
EXCLUSIVE: Millions of newborns to receive special Social Security cards celebrating America’s 250th birthday
‘I Am a Ruined Man’ – Japanese World Cup Tourist Gets Trapped in Hilarious Cycle – Won’t Say No to a Gift, So Free ‘Gift’ Chips Won’t Stop Coming at Mexican Restaurant
Trump honors Village People and ‘Y.M.C.A.’ singer Victor Willis after death announcement
‘Experts’ Stumped About How Trump Proved Them Wrong on Oil Prices: ‘It’s the Weirdest Thing’
Trump faces ‘worst-case scenario’ on birthright citizenship after Supreme Court shuts door on executive, legislative fixes
Harris-backed Democrat scrubs BLM-era posts as House campaign heats up
America’s favorite beers — and the jobs tied to them — are at the center of a brewing trade fight
1,000 days after Oct. 7, Israel’s military successes come at the cost of global isolation
Florida toddler dies after father realizes child was left in SUV during daycare pickup
Thousands of beer cans spill across Connecticut highway after tractor-trailer overturns
Socialism goes west as DSA-backed challenger ousts longtime Democrat
DOJ says 11 migrants indicted in multi-state sex trafficking, drug, firearms case
Anti-Trump senator defeated by far-left rival after heated gubernatorial primary
Ex-talk show host will take on former chief advisor to Kamala Harris’ husband
In a recent interview with the Fox News Channel, Barr said his department is examining if “government officials abused their power and put their thumb on the scale” at the start of the FBI’s counterintelligence operation.
“I’ve been trying to get answers to the questions, and I’ve found that a lot of the answers have been inadequate, and some of the explanations I’ve gotten don’t hang together. In a sense, I have more questions today than when I first started,” the attorney general told anchor Bill Hemmer.
“The source close to Steele’s company said Steele would not cooperate with Durham’s probe but might cooperate with a parallel inquiry by the Justice Department’s Inspector General into how U.S. law enforcement agencies handled pre-election investigations into both Trump and Clinton,” according to Reuters.
Story cited here.
