Report: Clinton Campaign, DNC Funded Discredited Trump-Russia Dossier, Lied To Cover It Up

Chris Menahan
InformationLiberation
Oct. 25, 2017

The Hillary Clinton campaign and the Democratic National Committee funded Fusion GPS, which paid a "former" foreign intelligence agent to work with Russian agents to dig up dirt on Donald Trump, according to a new report from The Washington Post.

Additionally, the lawyer who served as the Clinton campaign and the DNC's point man allegedly lied to a New York Times reporter to cover-up their financing of the shady group.

From The Washington Post:

The Hillary Clinton campaign and the Democratic National Committee (DNC) helped fund research that resulted in a now-famous dossier containing allegations about Donald Trump’s connections to Russia and possible coordination between his campaign and the Kremlin, people familiar with the matter said.

Marc Elias, a lawyer representing the Clinton campaign and the DNC, retained Fusion GPS, a Washington, D.C., firm, to conduct the research. Fusion GPS hired dossier author Christopher Steele, a former British intelligence officer with ties to the FBI and the U.S. intelligence community.

Elias and his law firm, Seattle-based Perkins Coie, retained the firm in April 2016 on behalf of the Clinton campaign and the DNC. Before that agreement, Fusion GPS’ research into Trump was funded by a still unknown Republican client during the GOP primary.

The Clinton campaign and the DNC, through the law firm, continued to fund Fusion GPS’ research through the end of October 2016, days before Election Day.

[...]The Clinton campaign paid Perkins Coie $5.6 million in legal fees from June 2015 to December 2016, according to campaign-finance records, and the DNC paid the firm $3.6 million in “legal and compliance consulting’’ since Nov. 2015 — though it’s impossible to tell how much of that work was for other legal matters and how much of it related to Fusion GPS.

If accurate, this report suggests Clinton campaign lawyer Marc Elias lied to NY Times reporter Ken Vogel by "vigorously" denying he funded the research:

When I tried to report this story, Clinton campaign lawyer @marceelias pushed back vigorously, saying "You (or your sources) are wrong." https://t.co/B5BZwoaNhI
— Kenneth P. Vogel (@kenvogel) October 24, 2017

NY Times reporter Maggie Haberman similarly said, "Folks involved in funding this lied about it, and with sanctimony, for a year."

Folks involved in funding this lied about it, and with sanctimony, for a year https://t.co/vXKRV1wRJc
— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) October 24, 2017

The Post said a "GOP donor" initially paid Fusion GPS to "investigate," or more accurately manufacture fake evidence as part of a concerted smear campaign, but the Clinton campaign and the DNC stepped in after the donor stopped paying.

We know for a fact John McCain said he was the point man who handed this phony dossier to FBI director James Comey:

"Late last year, I received sensitive information that has since been made public," McCain said in a statement [early January]. "Upon examination of the contents, and unable to make a judgement about their accuracy, I delivered the information to the Director of the FBI. That has been the extent of my contact with the FBI or any other government agency regarding this issue."

Former FBI director James Comey actually took steps to pay Steele for his "research," though he later backed out after Steele was exposed by the media.

Steele Dossier was published Jan. 10. Why did it take over 9 months to come out that the Hillary campaign directly funded + facilitated it?
— Michael Tracey (@mtracey) October 25, 2017

To add to this intrigue, Tucker Carlson had a bombshell report last night claiming a source close to John and Tony Podesta told him that the Podesta brothers and Paul Manafort -- not Donald Trump -- are now "central figures" in special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation due to their shady lobbying efforts on behalf of Russia.

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