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.
Religion of Peace: Man Who Tried to Take Out Synagogue Using Explosive-Packed Truck Was Dearborn-Area Muslim Acting for Hezbollah
Former Rep. MTG vents that she’s ‘so beyond done,’ characterizing Trump’s address as ‘WAR WAR WAR’
Earthquake rattles northern California major cities
FLASHBACK: Dem senate candidate was critical vote in confirming judge who tied voter ID to ‘White supremacy’
Once a Kamala Harris donor, this Arkansas Democrat is steering clear of the former vice president
Major teachers union funds group planning to stage anti-ICE protests at public schools
Fort Hood soldiers shift to underground training to prepare for battlefield medical care
Local Dem leader says he was not ‘an aggressor’ after arrest for hitting man with bullhorn at ‘No Kings’ rally
NYPD cop’s killer convicted of manslaughter, not guilty of murder after split jury ordered to deliberate more
Sham Philadelphia coffee shop hiding crack operation busted in sweeping raid, 17 arrested: AG
Behind the scenes of Congress’ eleventh-hour rush to fund the DHS
Trump says Iran ‘no longer a threat’ after 32 days — outlines next phase of US war
FBI investigated former Capitol Police officer in Jan. 6 pipe bomb case, filings say
Illegal Alien Charged with Murdering 3-Month-Old Infant
Listen: Ketanji Brown Jackson Sparks Derision During Supreme Court Oral Arguments with Bizarre Tangent About Stealing Wallets
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.
