IG Report Reveals Steele Funneled Claims Through John McCain After FBI Dropped Him

Late Senator John McCain provided disgraced former FBI chief James Comey with five separate reports from Christopher Steele that the FBI didn’t previously possess related to unsubstantiated allegations of collusion between Russia and President Trump’s 2016 campaign, the Justice Department’s recent Inspector General report revealed.

There have long been questions about why it was necessary for McCain to pass Steele’s anti-Trump dossier to Comey on December 9, 2016, several weeks after the November 2016 presidential election. By then, Steele had already met numerous times with FBI agents to provide them with his controversial reports. Steele, however, was terminated as an FBI source in the fall of 2016 because he spoke to the news media.

The IG report discloses that McCain gave five new Steele reports to Comey that the FBI did not previously possess, showing that McCain served as a conduit for Steele’s information to reach the FBI even after the British ex-spy was formally cut off as an FBI source.

It is not clear whether McCain knew at the time that Steele had previously been terminated as an FBI source.

Trump admin asks Spanberger, Virginia officials not release illegal charged with groping high school girls

Trump voter ID push faces Senate test as GOP rebels threaten to sink bill

Viktor Orban faces uphill battle to hold leadership as opposition hits him on Russia ties and accusations of corruption

Where things stand with Iran war in its third week

Minnesota bill would ban warrants allowing police to collect data from devices near a crime scene

Jasmine Crockett defends her security guard who was killed in police standoff, wanted for impersonating cop

ABC News Left Out Crucial Context In Story About Iran Drone Threat To California

Anti-ICE agitators blow cover in Boston, allowing child rape suspect to evade arrest for weeks

Utah children’s book author Kouri Richins convicted in husband’s murder

Search for missing retired Air Force general enters third week as investigators probe new clues

Trump questions Newsom’s fitness for White House, citing his dyslexia

Court allows DOJ to proceed with appeal over law firm executive orders

Trump lawyer in Jack Smith case draws conservative backing after DOJ praise rattles ‘elite’ legal conference

Illegal immigrant held on ICE detainer in Charlotte murder as disturbing details surface

Vance accuses media of trying to ‘drive a wedge’ between him and Trump over Iran

The IG report also verifies that a McCain aid obtained the Steele reports directly from Fusion GPS co-founder Glenn Simpson, meaning that when McCain transferred the anti-Trump charges to Comey he had to have known that the material originated with a firm that specializes in controversial opposition tactics.

Fusion GPS was paid for its anti-Trump work by Trump’s primary political opponents, namely Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign and the Democratic National Committee (DNC) via the Perkins Coie law firm.

States the IG report:

Several weeks later, on December 9, 2016, Senator John McCain provided Comney with a collection of 16 Steele election reports, 5 of which Steele had not given the FBI. McCain had obtained these reports from a staff member at the McCain Institute. The McCain Institute staff member had met with Steele and later acquired the reports from Simpson.

The unnamed McCain staff member is known to be David J. Kramer, who also infamously provided BuzzFeed with the Steele dossier.

BuzzFeed published Steele’s full dossier on January 10, 2017 setting off a firestorm of news media coverage about the document.

Prior to his death, McCain admitted to personally handing the dossier to Comey but he refused repeated requests for comment about whether he had a role in providing the dossier to BuzzFeed, including numerous inquiries sent to his office by this reporter.