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.
Enemy within: Counterterrorism experts fear sleeper cells could be poised inside US
Kamala Harris Intervenes at Last Second in TX Dem Senate Race, Endorses Jasmine Crockett
GOP warns Democrats’ DHS shutdown could jeopardize World Cup security
Nancy Guthrie abduction sparks fears over senior safety in affluent communities: expert
Austin Police Kill Armed Gunman After 3 Die, 14 Wounded Bar Shooting
‘I Love Trump’: Viral Videos Show Iranians Praising Trump, Dancing in the Street Following US Strikes
Dems’ potential 2028 hopefuls come out against US strikes on Iran
‘Bloodthirsty Thugs’: Trump Celebrates Killing of Iranian Regime Leader in Lengthy Post
Hegseth Announces the Woke Organization Formerly Known as the Boy Scouts Will Drop DEI – But the Damage Is Already Done
Newsom book tour missteps expose national campaign ‘growing pains’
Republican NeverTrumpers Tried Throwing a Conference and the Results Were Less Than Stellar
Sustained war with Iran could drain US missile stockpiles, test escalation control
From hostage crisis to assassination plots: Iran’s near half-century war on Americans
Frozen Yogurt Store Near Spokane Gets Death Threats Over Touching Tribute to Charlie Kirk
Mamdani’s response to Trump’s Iran strike sparks conservative backlash: ‘Rooting for the ayatollah’
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.
