https://sputnikglobe.com/20220519/firm-behind-steele-dossier-prodded-journo-to-spread-false-trump-russia-collusion-story---witness-1095623788.html
Firm Behind ‘Steele Dossier’ Prodded Journo to Spread 'False' Trump-Russia Collusion Story - Witness
Firm Behind ‘Steele Dossier’ Prodded Journo to Spread 'False' Trump-Russia Collusion Story - Witness
Sputnik International
The 35-page Steele dossier, published a week before Donald Trump's inauguration in January 2017, alleged that Russian intelligence had compromising information... 19.05.2022, Sputnik International
2022-05-19T07:26+0000
2022-05-19T07:26+0000
2022-05-19T10:57+0000
us
donald trump
hillary clinton
steele dossier
russia
fusion gps
john durham
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Members of the strategic intelligence research firm, Fusion GPS, that compiled the now-notorious “Steele dossier” - used to make allegations of collusion between Donald Trump's campaign and the Russian government - met a journalist to spread false theories about the 45th POTUS after learning about it from former Hillary Clinton campaign lawyer Michael Sussmann, The New York Post has reported.Laura Seago, formerly an analyst at the Washington-based firm, testified on 18 May that she had taken part in that hour-long sit-down in autumn 2016.Seago was able to offer her testimony after a federal judge earlier in the month granted a motion by special counsel John Durham to review documents that Hillary Clinton’s 2016 campaign had claimed were protected by privilege.Durham is prosecuting Michael Sussmann on charges of lying to the FBI, as part of the special counsel’s probe into the legality of a Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) inquiry into allegations that former President Donald Trump had colluded with Russia - allegations which turned out to be unsubstantiated.Accordingly, after District Judge Christopher Cooper ruled that John Durham’s team could present some evidence of Sussmann’s meetings with Fusion GPS and its associate - former British spy Christopher Steele - Seago faced jurors at Sussmann’s trial on Tuesday.‘False Theory Tailored for Lay Audience’According to Seago, Fusion GPS co-founder Peter Fritsch, a former Wall Street Journal reporter, and Fusion employee Jake Berkowitz met with journalist Franklin Foer at his house in 2016.The meeting with Foer had been scheduled after Seago was reportedly instructed to “translate” computer data that purported to reveal a “secret back channel” between a Trump Organisation server and Russia’s Alfa Bank into language that could be understood by “a lay audience”.Seago testified that Foer was told that the information pertaining to Trump had been vetted by “highly credible computer scientists” who “seemed to think these allegations were credible”.Indeed, in the wake of the get-together at Foer’s house, on 13 October 2016, eight days before the US presidential election that pitted Republican Donald Trump against Democrat Hillary Clinton, the Slate website posted a story written by the journalist under the headline, "Was a Trump Server Communicating With Russia?”Hillary Clinton wasted no time tweeting: “It’s time for Trump to answer serious questions about his ties to Russia.”Alfa Bank AllegationsAccording to Seago, the get-together at Foer’s house was preceded by a meeting in the summer of 2016 involving herself, Fritsch, Sussmann, Clinton campaign general counsel Marc Elias and tech executive Rodney Joffe. The meeting was described as a brainstorming session over the Alfa Bank data.At the time, Seago claimed she was unaware that the Clinton campaign was paying Fusion GPS to dig up dirt on Trump. However, she testified that she knew the Democrats were funding the opposition-research effort.Sussmann, 57, has been indicted for lying to the FBI by denying that he wasn’t “acting on behalf of any client” when he handed over data and reports related to the Alfa Bank allegations on 19 September 2016.According to the indictment, Joffe - his client at the time - acquainted him with the information after it had been “assembled” by a computer researcher using the codename “Tea Leaves”. The individual has since been identified as April Lorenzen.According to the prosecutor at Sussmann’s trial, a subsequent official investigation determined that a “spam email server” was behind the computer data.Elias also took the witness stand on 17 May, revealing he hired Fusion GPS to work for the Clinton campaign on 1 April 2016, at a rate of $130,000 a month.He acknowledged that Sussmann was among only a small group of people who knew Fusion GPS was working for the campaign. Sussmann and Elias are both former partners at the Perkins Coie law firm representing the Democratic National Convention (DNC).Earlier this year, the Federal Election Commission fined the Hillary Clinton campaign and the DNC for disguising their payments to Fusion GPS on official disclosure forms.Probe Into ‘Russiagate’John Durham's ongoing investigation kicked off in 2019, when then-Attorney General William Barr instructed the special counsel to lead a review into the "Russiagate" probe launched by the FBI in July 2016 to determine whether the bureau's inquiry was legal.Before that, the US Justice Department released a redacted version of then-Special Counsel Robert Mueller's report, which found insufficient evidence of collusion between Russia and the 2016 Trump campaign.In what is the first indictment as part of Durham’s probe, on 16 September 2021, Sussmann was accused by the special counsel of lying to the FBI regarding research into alleged back-channel communications between Russia's Alfa Bank and the Trump Organisation.Sussmann had told the FBI his research had not been done on behalf of any client, but Durham argues that the 2016 Hillary Clinton Presidential Campaign and Rodney Joffe hired Sussmann to do the job.Russia has repeatedly rejected allegations that it interfered in the US political system, stressing that the claims were made to explain the election loss of Trump's opponent - Hillary Clinton - and to distract public attention away from actual instances of election fraud and corruption.
https://sputnikglobe.com/20220513/research-firm-hired-by-hillary-clintons-campaign-ordered-to-hand-its-emails-to-durham-probe-1095483157.html
https://sputnikglobe.com/20220420/durham-probe-data-alleging-trump-russia-plot-fabricated--part-of-conspiracy-scholars-say-1094915414.html
https://sputnikglobe.com/20220430/hillary-for-america-trying-to-throw-wrench-in-durhams-gears-but-that-might-not-work-1095167672.html
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us, donald trump, hillary clinton, steele dossier, fusion gps, john durham
Firm Behind ‘Steele Dossier’ Prodded Journo to Spread 'False' Trump-Russia Collusion Story - Witness
07:26 GMT 19.05.2022 (Updated: 10:57 GMT 19.05.2022) The 35-page Steele dossier, published a week before Donald Trump's inauguration in January 2017, alleged that Russian intelligence had compromising information about the then-US president-elect and became part of the Democrats' three-year campaign to accuse the 45th POTUS of colluding with Russia.
Members of the strategic intelligence research firm, Fusion GPS, that compiled the now-notorious “Steele dossier” - used to make
allegations of collusion between Donald Trump's campaign and the Russian government - met a journalist to spread false theories about the 45th POTUS after learning about it from former Hillary Clinton campaign lawyer Michael Sussmann, The New York Post has reported.
Laura Seago, formerly an analyst at the Washington-based firm, testified on 18 May that she had taken part in that hour-long sit-down in autumn 2016.
Seago was able to offer her testimony after a federal judge earlier in the month granted a motion by special counsel John Durham to review documents that Hillary Clinton’s 2016 campaign had claimed were protected by privilege.
Durham is prosecuting Michael Sussmann on charges of lying to the FBI, as part of the special counsel’s probe into the legality of a Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) inquiry into allegations that former President Donald Trump had colluded with Russia - allegations which turned out to be
unsubstantiated.
Accordingly, after District Judge Christopher Cooper ruled that John Durham’s team could present some
evidence of Sussmann’s meetings with Fusion GPS and its associate - former British spy Christopher Steele - Seago faced jurors at Sussmann’s trial on Tuesday.
‘False Theory Tailored for Lay Audience’
According to Seago, Fusion GPS co-founder Peter Fritsch, a former Wall Street Journal reporter, and Fusion employee Jake Berkowitz met with journalist Franklin Foer at his house in 2016.
The meeting with Foer had been scheduled after Seago was reportedly instructed to “translate” computer data that purported to reveal a “secret back channel” between a Trump Organisation server and Russia’s Alfa Bank into language that could be understood by “a lay audience”.
Seago testified that Foer was told that the information pertaining to Trump had been vetted by “highly credible computer scientists” who “seemed to think these allegations were credible”.
“We certainly hoped he would publish an article,” she told jurors.
Indeed, in the wake of the get-together at Foer’s house, on 13 October 2016, eight days before the US presidential election that pitted Republican Donald Trump against Democrat Hillary Clinton, the Slate website posted a story written by the journalist under the headline, "Was a Trump Server Communicating With Russia?”
Hillary Clinton wasted no time tweeting: “It’s time for Trump to answer serious questions about his ties to Russia.”
According to Seago, the get-together at Foer’s house was preceded by a meeting in the summer of 2016 involving herself, Fritsch, Sussmann, Clinton campaign general counsel Marc Elias and tech executive Rodney Joffe. The meeting was described as a brainstorming session over the Alfa Bank data.
At the time, Seago claimed she was unaware that the Clinton campaign was paying Fusion GPS
to dig up dirt on Trump. However, she testified that she knew the Democrats were funding the opposition-research effort.
Sussmann, 57, has been indicted for lying to the FBI by denying that he wasn’t “acting on behalf of any client” when he handed over data and reports related to the Alfa Bank allegations on 19 September 2016.
According to
the indictment, Joffe - his client at the time - acquainted him with the information after it had been “assembled” by a computer researcher using the codename “Tea Leaves”. The individual has since been identified as April Lorenzen.
According to the prosecutor at Sussmann’s trial, a subsequent official investigation determined that a “spam email server” was behind the computer data.
Elias also took the witness stand on 17 May, revealing he hired Fusion GPS to work for the Clinton campaign on 1 April 2016, at a rate of $130,000 a month.
He acknowledged that Sussmann was among only a small group of people who knew Fusion GPS was working for the campaign. Sussmann and Elias are both former partners at the Perkins Coie law firm representing the Democratic National Convention (DNC).
Earlier this year, the Federal Election Commission fined the Hillary Clinton campaign and the DNC for disguising their payments to Fusion GPS on official disclosure forms.
John Durham's ongoing investigation kicked off in 2019, when then-Attorney General William Barr instructed the special counsel to lead a review into the "Russiagate" probe launched by the FBI in July 2016 to determine whether the bureau's inquiry was legal.
Before that, the US Justice Department released a redacted version of then-Special Counsel Robert Mueller's report, which found insufficient evidence of collusion between Russia and the 2016 Trump campaign.
In what is the first indictment as part of Durham’s probe, on 16 September 2021, Sussmann was accused by the special counsel of lying to the FBI regarding research into alleged back-channel communications between Russia's Alfa Bank and the Trump Organisation.
Sussmann had told the FBI his research had not been done on behalf of any client, but Durham argues that the 2016 Hillary Clinton Presidential Campaign and Rodney Joffe hired Sussmann to do the job.
Russia has repeatedly
rejected allegations that it interfered in the US political system, stressing that the claims were made to explain the election loss of Trump's opponent - Hillary Clinton - and to distract public attention away from actual instances of election fraud and corruption.
