Anti-Trump dossier author Christopher Steele testified that he was “absolutely flabbergasted” when BuzzFeed published the dossier after an advisor to late Senator John McCain shared the controversial document with the media outlet purportedly against Steele’s wishes.
That tidbit was buried in a footnote on page 176 of the Justice Department’s recently released 476-page Inspector General (IG) report on the FBI’s Russia collusion investigation. Steele made the remarks about Buzzfeed and the McCain staff member during an interview with the IG.
The relevant footnote relates:
Steele testified in foreign litigation that he did not provide his reports to journalists or media organizations and did not authorize anyone to share them. According to the McCain Institute staff member’s testimony in the same litigation, Steele requested that the staff member meet with BuzzFeed, and that Steele neither requested nor prohibited the staff member from sharing the reports with BuzzFeed. Additionally, the staff member testified that Steele was aware that the staff member was furnishing Steele’s reports to The Washington Post.
Steele told the OIG that he trusted the staff member to handle his reports discretely and that the staff member betrayed that trust. Steele explained that the staff member had spent his career handling sensitive intelligence. Steele also said he understood from a former Ambassador that Senator McCain requested that Steele trust the staff member. Steele said he was “absolutely flabbergasted” when BuzzFeed published his election reports.
The unnamed McCain staff member is known to be David J. Kramer.
Momentum builds to pass bill after Jack Smith’s secret Arctic Frost subpoenas
Bronx man convicted of running secret Chinese police station in Manhattan used to monitor dissidents
Trump touts ‘fantastic trade deals’ in final Xi meeting amid tariff standoff
Trump reveals Xi’s stance on arming Iran as Hormuz tensions rattle markets
Trump says Xi agreed US became a ‘declining nation’ during Biden years
US moving to indict former Cuban leader Raúl Castro: source
Gavin Newsom’s Former Chief of Staff Pleads Guilty to 3 Federal Charges, Faces 38 Years in Prison
McMaster revives Trump-backed push to oust Biden kingmaker from Congress
Fox News Crew Snared by China’s Massive Surveillance System While Covering Trump Visit: ‘They See Everything’
Absurd: China Literally Changes Marco Rubio’s Name During Trip – Lets Communists Avoid Admitting They Made a Huge Mistake
Man shot at In-N-Out drive-thru drove family to safety with bullet lodged in head
Border Patrol Chief Resigns: ‘It Is Time’
Highest-ranking Tren de Aragua member ever extradited to US set to appear in Houston courtroom: DOJ
China cozies up as Trump touts delegation of richest business heavyweights at Xi summit
Death row inmate who ate 3 last meals granted bond after Supreme Court overturned his conviction
Kramer revealed in previous testimony that he held a meeting about the dossier with a reporter from BuzzFeed News, who he says snapped photos of the controversial document without Kramer’s permission when he left the room to go to the bathroom. That meeting was held at the McCain Institute office in Washington, Kramer stated.
BuzzFeed published the Christopher Steele dossier on January 10, 2017, setting off a firestorm of news media coverage about the document.
The Washington Post reported last February that Kramer received the dossier directly from Fusion GPS after McCain expressed interest in it.
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.
As Breitbart News reported last week, the IG report also reveals that McCain provided disgraced former FBI chief James Comey with five separate reports from Steele that the FBI didn’t previously possess related to unsubstantiated allegations of collusion between Russia and President Trump’s 2016 campaign.
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 after the British ex-spy was formally cut off as an FBI source.
Momentum builds to pass bill after Jack Smith’s secret Arctic Frost subpoenas
Bronx man convicted of running secret Chinese police station in Manhattan used to monitor dissidents
Trump touts ‘fantastic trade deals’ in final Xi meeting amid tariff standoff
Trump reveals Xi’s stance on arming Iran as Hormuz tensions rattle markets
Trump says Xi agreed US became a ‘declining nation’ during Biden years
US moving to indict former Cuban leader Raúl Castro: source
Gavin Newsom’s Former Chief of Staff Pleads Guilty to 3 Federal Charges, Faces 38 Years in Prison
McMaster revives Trump-backed push to oust Biden kingmaker from Congress
Fox News Crew Snared by China’s Massive Surveillance System While Covering Trump Visit: ‘They See Everything’
Absurd: China Literally Changes Marco Rubio’s Name During Trip – Lets Communists Avoid Admitting They Made a Huge Mistake
Man shot at In-N-Out drive-thru drove family to safety with bullet lodged in head
Border Patrol Chief Resigns: ‘It Is Time’
Highest-ranking Tren de Aragua member ever extradited to US set to appear in Houston courtroom: DOJ
China cozies up as Trump touts delegation of richest business heavyweights at Xi summit
Death row inmate who ate 3 last meals granted bond after Supreme Court overturned his conviction
It is not clear whether McCain knew at the time that Steele had previously been terminated as an FBI source.
The IG report also verifies that Kramer 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.
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.
In his book published last year, McCain maintained he had an “obligation” to pass the dossier charges against Trump to Comey and he would even do it again. “Anyone who doesn’t like it can go to hell,” McCain exclaimed.
Story cited here.
