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 administration to offer ‘premium’ expedited visa interviews for $750

Billionare Tom Steyer ends California governor campaign after falling short in Jungle Primary

Nick Reiner, Charged with Murdering His Parents, Demands Access to $1.5 Million Inheritance

GOP Finally Defeat Democrats, Pass Bill to Fund ICE, Border Patrol for Years to Come

Trump-backed Hilton advances to California governor general election

WATCH: As Fraud Accusations Swirl, Nick Shirley Confronts ‘126 Year-Old’ Who Voted in 51 Elections, According to California Sec. of State

Fetterman refuses to defend Platner, calls him ‘baggage’ as scandals mount

ALERT: Trump Launches Strikes After Iran Downed Apache, Fulfilling His Promise to Respond

Riots consume Belfast over attempted beheading by Sudanese immigrant

Cornyn won’t campaign for Paxton in Texas Senate race against Talarico

Progressive groups launch anti-Schumer billboard campaign in Washington

UFO whistleblower pushes Vance to investigate alleged billions of federal ‘slush funds’ tied to classified programs

Jurors Were Aghast and Karmelo Anthony Wouldn’t Look as Gruesome Image of Austin Metcalf’s Punctured Heart Was Presented at Trial

Tim Walz Gets Referred to DOJ for ‘Full Criminal Investigation’

Stephen A. Smith fires back at Trump over ‘low IQ’ jab: ‘Put my IQ up against yours’

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.