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.
ICE officer charged in Minneapolis shooting released in Texas after judge declines to intervene
U.S. Military Uses Lasers to Shoot Down Mexican Cartel Drones at Southern Border
The Psychology Behind Republicans Who Support Amnesty for Illegals
Soros-backed DA accused of going easy on illegal immigrants gets squeezed by House GOP
House Dem Debbie Dingell places Trump’s Lake Ontario name change in the crosshairs
Free climber stranded on Georgia rock face calls 911, prompting dramatic rescue by firefighter
Maine and Georgia could test whether ticket-splitting is making a comeback
Dems derided Trump’s midterm gamble — until he ended up winning big
Mail-voting crackdown moves ahead as Trump court win opens door to federal action
Brutal Cheap Shot: Video Captures Amazon Driver Sucker Punching Elderly Man Over Parking Dispute
Brexit isn’t what’s dragging Britain down
There’s little brilliant about Netflix’s ‘My Brilliant Career’
Norway’s King Harald dies peacefully at 89, son Crown Prince Haakon to succeed him
New Hampshire man allegedly steals rescue truck from firefighters battling his burning home
Federal judge again blocks Trump’s mail ballot order just before midterms
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.
