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 says Chicago crime has fallen dramatically despite ‘extraordinary resistance’ from local Democrats
Republican erupts at Democrat during shutdown hearing: ‘My people aren’t getting paid thanks to you’
USPS worker found dead inside mailing machine in Michigan: ‘Deeply saddened by the loss’
Trump declares victory in Dem-run city despite ‘extraordinary resistance’ from sanctuary politicians
Far-left firebrand spends eye-popping amount of campaign cash on luxury hotels, ‘top-tier’ limo services
Harrowing Footage: Chaos Erupts in California Train Car as Operator Appears to Fall Asleep at High Speed
Student arrested after disrupting Dave Portnoy’s pizza review with antisemitic rant caught on video: police
Watch: John Fetterman Turns the Tables on Sunny Hostin When She Tries to Shame Him on ‘The View’
Antifa behind violent counterprotest against TPUSA event at UC Berkeley
MAGA-land troubles growing for Trump and GOP
Ilhan Omar fires back after Trump’s Constitution dig: ‘Unlike you, I can read’
Mainstream Media Turns to 2020 Playbook of Deception as Violent Antifa Mob Targets Turning Point Event
Trump Fires Back at Michelle Obama After She Criticizes His East Wing Project
Fox News Politics Newsletter: Trump honors veterans at Arlington National Ceremony
Priceless: Watching This Portland AWFL Go from Insulting ICE to Begging Them for Mercy Will Be the Best Three Minutes of Your Day
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.
