Memo Reveals Russia Dossier Author 'Desperately' Did Not Want Trump To Be Elected
The newly released memo created by the House Intelligence Committee has revealed that the author of the infamous Trump-Russia dossier was heavily biased against Trump’s candidacy for president.
Former British spy Christopher Steele, who was paid by opposition research firm Fusion GPS to compile the dossier — was apparently “desperate” that Trump never make it to the White House.
“(I)n September 2016, Steele admitted to (DOJ official Bruce) Ohr his feelings against then-candidate Trump when Steele said he “was desperate that Donald Trump not get elected and was passionate about him not being president,” the memo reads.
“This clear evidence of Steele’s bias was recorded by Ohr at the time and subsequently in official FBI files — but not reflected in any of the Page FISA applications,” it added, referring to Trump campaign adviser Carter Page.
Steele’s alleged bias is notable, particularly considering the memo claims the FBI used the dossier — which was paid for by the Hillary Clinton campaign and the Democrat National Committee — to obtain FISA warrants in order to surveil the Trump team.
“(The Committee’s) findings…1) raise concerns with the legitimacy and the legality of certain DOJ and FBI interactions with Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC) without the Steele dossier information.” (FISC), and 2) represents a troubling breakdown of legal processes established to protect the American people from the abuses related to the FISA process,” wrote intelligence committee Chairman Rep. Devin Nunes, who drafted the memo.
As The Western Journal reported, former Attorney General Loretta Lynch presided over the DOJ and the FBI, when the FISA warrants were initially sought.
“Deputy Director (Andrew) McCabe testified before the Committee in December 2017 that no surveillance warrant would have been sought from the FISC without the Steele dossier information,” the memo states.
“Steele was a longtime FBI source who was paid over $160,000 by the DNC and Clinton campaign, via the law firm Perkins Coie and research firm Fusion GPS, to obtain derogatory information on Donald Trump’s ties to Russia.”
The memo records that after Steele was cut off from the FBI, he continued to pass information, as did Fusion GPS, through Justice Department official Bruce Ohr’s wife Nellie, who began working for Fusion GPS as early as May 2016, Fox News reported.
According to the memo, Steele “was suspended and then terminated as an FBI source for what the FBI defines as the most serious of violations–an authorized disclosure to the media of his relationship with the FBI.”
The full text of the memo can be read here.
Steele, though, met with numerous media outlets, apparently using his connection with the FBI to bolster the credibility of his accusations against the Republican candidate.
Steele’s suspension as an FBI source occurred following an interview he gave to liberal media outlet Mother Jones on Oct. 30, 2016, as the presidential race drew to a close.
The FBI opposed the memo’s release this week stating, “We have grave concerns about material omissions of fact that fundamentally impact the memo’s accuracy.”
Speaking Monday in the Oval Office, President Donald Trump told reporters that the abuses by the FBI and the DOJ outlined in the memo are “terrible.”
“I think it’s a disgrace, what’s happening in our country,” Trump said.
“A lot of people should be ashamed of themselves, and much worse than that.”
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