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.

Jenny Beth Martin: Conservatives Were Right About Obamacare All Along

Scott Jennings is Right, Trump’s Leadership Is Saving Western Civilization

Trump allies may have been pardoned, but here’s why their legal woes aren’t over yet

Media-shy Melania Trump steps into spotlight to champion child advocacy

Skies at stake: Inside the U.S.–China race for air dominance

Marjorie Taylor Greene ‘OK’ with Trump rift: ‘I’m America First, America only’

Public School Slaps ‘Does Not Endorse’ Stickers on US Constitution, Declaration of Independence

Fact Check: Is Dan Goldman the New Adam Schiff, With Over-the-Top Trump Allegations?

Michelle Obama says America ‘not ready’ for woman president: ‘We saw in this past election’

Federal immigration enforcement sweeps Charlotte months after Ukrainian refugee killing shocked nation

Laura Loomer teases Georgia move after President Trump says he wants Marjorie Taylor Greene primaried

Dog shoots owner after jumping on bed during gun cleaning accident in Pennsylvania home

Former CBP officer sentenced to 15 years in prison for role in drug trafficking scheme at southern border

Democratic Rep. Brad Sherman denies viewing pornography on flight after viral photos surface online

Border czar Tom Homan slams Catholic Church, says ‘secure border saves lives’

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.