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.
Trump’s Greenland deal shadows Xi visit after years of Beijing eyeing Arctic influence
She grew up under Soviet rule. Now EU’s top diplomat warns Europe against giving Russia what it wants
Fulton Sheen became a TV sensation preaching faith, morality and warnings Michael Knowles says still resonate
WATCH: Former Dem Lt Gov reveals why he resigned after sexual harassment probe rocked state
Breaking: SCOTUS Strikes Down GOP-Favored Map Revived Just 4 Days Ago
St Paul police chief sues mayor, alleging she called herself a ‘MILF,’ sexually harassed him and retaliated
Family of paralyzed Marine vet allegedly shot by migrant speaks out as health issue could delay testimony
Supreme Court blocks Missouri from using new congressional map in 2026 election
For This Dem Judge, a Gay Man’s Life Is Only Worth $765 and 30 Days in Jail When It’s Taken by a Black Woman
Woman Has Part of Her Face Bitten Off in Random ‘Zombie Bite’ Attack
Florida GOP nominee blasts 20-year Dem incumbent as a ‘socialist’ rubber-stamp with ‘precious little to show’
Pope Leo Issues Apocalyptic Warning About AI Creating a ‘Paradise of Machines’
Tennessee Man, 68, Charged with Threatening to Kill ICE Agents on Left-Wing Social Media Platform
Suspect in Fatal College Football Stabbing ID’d as Foreign National Who Overstayed Visa
Starbucks to Close Down Hundreds of Underperforming Locations
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.
