Author of the fake Trump-Russia dossier admits it was created so Clinton could challenge 2016 election results

www.liberteon.com

[RT] The British ex-spy who authored the infamous dossier alleging collusion between Donald Trump and the Kremlin said one of his goals was to give Hillary Clinton legal basis to challenge the 2016 election results.

Related: BREAKING: FOX NEWS REPORTS SECRET INDICTMENTS FILED AGAINST PRESIDENT TRUMP BY MUELLER

Christopher Steele’s salacious 17-page report was commissioned by Fusion GPS, a firm connected to Clinton’s campaign.

“Based on that advice, parties such as the Democratic National Committee and HFACC Inc. (also known as ‘Hillary for America’) could consider steps they would be legally entitled to take to challenge the validity of the outcome of that election,” Steele wrote in recently unsealed declaration that was published by the Washington Times.

His statement is part of a series of answers which Steele provided in a defamation suit brought by three Russians who head Alfa Bank, who were named in the dossier as part of the alleged collusion conspiracy between Trump and the Kremlin.

Related: [Video] Deep-State Swamp Dweller Robert Mueller Exposed

The court challenge never came. Instead, the unsubstantiated dossier was leaked to news outlets such as BuzzFeed, fuelling Russiagate hysteria and serving as the backbone of a two-year probe that has yet to corroborate any of the document’s core claims. The document was also used by the FBI to obtain a warrant to spy on former Trump aide Carter Page, who was accused by Steele of meeting secretly with Kremlin insiders in Moscow. Incredibly, former FBI Director James Comey admitted that his agency had not verified the dossier’s contents before using it to justify the warrant.

Related: ‘Full Extent’ of Russian Meddling on Google in 2016? $4,700 Spent on Ads

The dossier itself has apparently fallen out of favor with many of its early champions: One of the first journalists to report on Steele’s research has stated that many of Steele’s central claims have yet to be substantiated and are “likely false.”

The defamation case against Steele was dismissed by a DC Superior Court judge, but lawyers representing the Russian bankers have launched an appeal in US District court, attaching Steele’s revelatory statements as part of their filing. Steele claimed that internet traffic data had been observed between Alfa Bank and a computer served linked to the Trump Organization.

Related: The Latest Russia Collusion ‘Bombshells’ Are Big, Fat Duds

The allegation has yet to be proven, with some reports suggesting that the flagged data actually originated from an internet spam farm based outside Philadelphia.

Steele faces similar legal trouble in London, where he is being sued for defamation by Russian entrepreneur Aleksej Gubarev. In one of his memos, Steele accused Gubarev of personally hacking DNC computers. Gubarev has also sued BuzzFeed for publishing the unverified claim as part of its uncritical coverage of the dossier.

Source: https://www.rt.com/usa/446776-clinton-steele-election-challenge-russia/

Share:

Read More

Steele dossier’s main claims ‘likely false,’ admits journalist who helped launch Russiagate

[RT] The explosive dossier that fueled Russiagate and served as justification for snooping on a top Trump aide contains numerous claims that are “likely false,” according to one of the first journalists to report on the document.

© AFP / Eric Baradat

Michael Isikoff, whose report on alleged Trump-Russia links was cited extensively by the FBI to secure a warrant to spy on Trump adviser Carter Page, has conceded that many of the dossier’s most scandalous allegations have yet to be supported by real evidence.

Related: BREAKING: FOX NEWS REPORTS SECRET INDICTMENTS FILED AGAINST PRESIDENT TRUMP BY MUELLER

“When you actually get into the details of the Steele dossier, the specific allegations, we have not seen the evidence to support them, and, in fact, there's good grounds to think that some of the more sensational allegations will never be proven and are likely false,” Isikoff, who writes for Yahoo News, said in an interview.

Most notably, the dossier alleges that Donald Trump’s former attorney, Michael Cohen, traveled to Prague to help coordinate “collusion” with the Russians. As Isikoff pointed out, Cohen vehemently denied the allegation in congressional testimony – and his recent plea deal for unrelated, non-collusion crimes signals that investigators think the ex-attorney is telling the truth.

“Why wasn’t [Cohen] charged with lying about it? That would have been as serious a lie as the lie he told about the Trump Tower Moscow project,” Isikoff argued. “All the signs to me are that Mueller is reaching his end game, and we may see less than many people want him to find.”

Isikoff also expressed doubts about the existence of the so-called “pee tape” which Russia is purportedly using to blackmail Trump – perhaps the most well-known and salacious claim made in the dossier.

Related: [Video] Deep-State Swamp Dweller Robert Mueller Exposed

However, Isikoff said he thought that the dossier was correct in asserting that the Russian government attempted to interfere in the election and “help Trump’s campaign.”

“In broad strokes, Christopher Steele was clearly onto something, that there was a major Kremlin effort to interfere in our elections, that they were trying to help Trump’s campaign, and that there was multiple contacts between various Russian figures close to the government and various people in Trump’s campaign,” he said.

Related: Comey admits FBI failed to verify Steele Dossier it used to obtain a spy warrant on Trump's aide

The dossier was authored by ex-spy Christopher Steele, who had been commissioned by Fusion GPS, a firm under contract with the Democratic National Committee (DNC) and the Hillary Clinton presidential campaign.

Isikoff’s skepticism is particularly noteworthy because he parroted many of Steele’s claims in a Sept. 23, 2016 article which the FBI cited in four Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) warrants to spy on Trump aide Carter Page. The FBI repeatedly claimed that it “did not believe” that Steele was the direct source for Isikoff’s article – but it was later revealed that the ex-spy had in fact briefed the reporter at the direction of Fusion GPS.

Source: https://www.rt.com/usa/446753-isikoff-dossier-russiagate-trump/

Share:

Read More

FBI, DOJ Plan Redactions Despite Trump’s Document Order

(Bloomberg) -- President Donald Trump has demanded the “immediate declassification” of sensitive materials about the Russia investigation, but the agencies responsible are expected to propose redactions that would keep some information secret, according to three people familiar with the matter.

The Justice Department, FBI and Office of the Director of National Intelligence are going through a methodical review and can’t offer a timeline for finishing, said the people, who weren’t authorized to speak publicly about the sensitive matter.

The White House issued a statement on Monday listing material that Trump wants declassified immediately, echoing demands of Republican lawmakers who share his contention that the continuing investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election was tainted by anti-Trump bias well before Robert Mueller was named special counsel to run it.

Among Trump’s demands was the full public release of all text messages concerning the Russia probe by Justice Department official Bruce Ohr and by several former officials, including two who were fired -- former FBI Director James Comey and his deputy, Andrew McCabe. One person described the order to release text messages as unprecedented, and another said additional talks will probably be held with the White House over the matter.

QuickTake: All You (and Trump) Should Know About Impeachment

The Justice Department and FBI are expected to submit their documents and proposed redactions to the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, which will assemble all the material into a package and hand it over to the White House, according to the people.

While the agencies want to guard against revealing classified sources and methods about the ongoing Russia investigation, doing so could put them in direct conflict with Trump, who as president has the power to override the agencies and declassify material on his own.

It’s too early to say if any officials would resign in protest should Trump do that, one person said. Trump could ask the agencies to go back and scrub the redacted material further.

Critics, including leading congressional Democrats, contend that Trump has crossed a line by ordering release of the documents in order to interfere with and undermine the Russia investigation in which he’s a key figure.

“President Trump, in a clear abuse of power, has decided to intervene in a pending law enforcement investigation by ordering the selective release of materials he believes are helpful to his defense team and thinks will advance a false narrative,” Representative Adam Schiff, the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, said in a statement on Monday.

Triggering Review

Trump took the rare step of ordering material released after a group of conservative House Republicans asked him to do so.

“When the president issues such an order, it triggers a declassification review process that is conducted by various agencies within the intelligence community, in conjunction with the White House counsel, to seek to ensure the safety of America’s national security interests,” a Justice Department spokesman said in a statement. “The department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation are already working with the Director of National Intelligence to comply with the president’s order.”

Some of what Trump requested was well known to the Justice Department and FBI and was already under review for potential declassification.

They have already been reviewing whether and how to release more of a previously secret warrant application to eavesdrop on Carter Page, a foreign policy adviser to Trump’s presidential campaign who was flagged by intelligence agencies as a target of Russian interest. Page hasn’t been accused of wrongdoing and has said that while he had conversations with Russian officials, he wasn’t an agent of the Russian government.

The agencies also have been reviewing whether and how to release reports of interviews with Ohr on his role in the Russia inquiry.

But another part of the White House statement caused confusion because it asked for “all FBI reports of interviews prepared in connection with all Carter Page FISA applications.

Confidential Informant

The Justice Department is interpreting that request to mean information about the use of a confidential informant during the early parts of the investigation, one person said. The department had previously briefed the “Gang of Eight,” Republican and Democratic congressional leaders and heads of the Intelligence committees, on the informant.

Trump and his supporters have repeatedly attacked the FBI and Justice Department for relying partly on a dossier on Trump compiled by former British spy Christopher Steele in order to get the warrant on Page. They contend that Justice and FBI officials didn’t fully disclose that Steele was paid in part by Trump’s rival in the presidential campaign, Hillary Clinton.

Democrats have said information other than the Steele dossier was used to obtain the warrant on Page.

The initial warrant request called Page “an agent of a foreign power” and said “the FBI believes Page has been the subject of targeted recruitment by the Russian government,” according to the document.

©2018 Bloomberg L.P.

Source: https://www.bloombergquint.com/business/2018/09/19/rbi-gives-yes-banks-rana-kapoor-only-three-more-months-as-md-and-ceo

 

---

Latest news:

• ‘I don’t have an attorney-general’: Trump slams Sessions in Oval Office interview
• [Video] Noam Chomsky on the historical origins of Christian Zionism, and why the US so fervently supports Israel  
• Ukrainian region bans 'Russian-language cultural products' in public spaces  
• Israel’s Failed Attempt to Start WWIII Is the Beginning of the End in Syria 

---

Share:

Read More

Strzok Wanted To Hunt Down Trump Ties Using FBI "Steele Dossier" Report Leaked To CNN

• Uncovered text messages reveal that FBI agent Peter Strzok wanted to use CNN's "bombshell" report about the infamous "Steele Dossier" to interview witnesses in the Trump-Russia probe

• CNN used leaked knowledge that Comey briefed Trump on the dossier as a trigger to publish 

• The FBI knew of CNN's plans to publish, confirming a dialogue between the FBI and CNN

• This is particularly damning in light of revelations of FBI-MSM collusion against the Trump campaign

Newly revealed text messages between former FBI agent Peter Strzok and former FBI attorney Lisa Page reveal that Strzok wanted to use CNN's report on the infamous "Steele Dossier" to justify interviewing people in the Trump-Russia investigation, reports CNN.


"Sitting with Bill watching CNN. A TON more out," Strzok texted to Page on Jan. 10, 2017, following CNN's report.

"Hey let me know when you can talk. We’re discussing whether, now that this is out, we use it as a pretext to go interview some people," Strzok continued.

Recall that CNN used the (leaked) fact that former FBI Director James Comey had briefed then-President-Elect Donald Trump on a two-page summary of the Steele Dossier to justify printing their January report.

This is a troubling development in light of a May report that the FBI knew that CNN was "close to going forward" with the Steele Dossier story, and that "The trigger for them is they know the material was discussed," clearly indicating active communications between CNN and the FBI.
Weeks later, as the Daily Caller's Chuck Ross notes, the FBI approached former Trump campaign adviser George Papadopoulos "under the guise of interviewing him about his contacts with an alleged source for the dossier."

In short, knowledge of the Comey-Trump briefing was leaked to CNN, CNN printed the story, Strzok wanted to use it as a pretext to interview people in the Trump-Russia investigation, and weeks later George Papadopoulos became ensnared in their investigation.

And when one considers that we learned of an FBI "media leak strategy" this week, it suggests pervasive collusion between Obama-era intelligence agencies and the MSM to defeat, and then smear Donald Trump after he had won the election. 

Text messages discussing the "media leak strategy" were revealed Monday by Rep. Mark Meadows (R-NC). The messages, sent the day before and after two damaging articles about former Trump campaign adviser Carter Page, raise "grave concerns regarding an apparent systematic culture of media leaking by high-ranking officials at the FBI and DOJ related to ongoing investigations." 

A review of the documents suggests that the FBI and DOJ coordinated efforts to get information to the press that would potentially be “harmful to President Trump’s administration.” Those leaks pertained to information regarding the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court warrant used to spy on short-term campaign volunteer Carter Page.
The letter lists several examples:

• April 10, 2017: (former FBI Special Agent) Peter Strzok contacts (former FBI Attorney) Lisa Page to discuss a “media leak strategy.” Specifically, the text says: “I had literally just gone to find this phone to tell you I want to talk to you about media leak strategy with DOJ before you go.”
• April 12, 2017: Peter Strzok congratulates Lisa Page on a job well done while referring to two derogatory articles about Carter Page. In the text, Strzok warns Page two articles are coming out, one which is “worse” than the other about Lisa’s “namesake”.” Strzok added: “Well done, Page.” -Sara Carter

Recall that Strzok's boss, former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, was fired for authorizing self-serving leaks to the press.

Also recall that text messages released in January reveal that Lisa Page was on the phone with Washington Post reporter Devlin Barrett, then with the New York Times, when the reopening of the Clinton Foundation investigation hit the news cycle - just one example in a series of text messages matching up with MSM reports relying on leaked information, as reported by the Conservative Treehouse.

♦Page: 5:19pm “Still on the phone with Devlin. Mike’s phone is ON FIRE.”
♥Strzok: 5:29pm “You might wanna tell Devlin he should turn on CNN, there’s news on.”
♦Page: 5:30pm “He knows. He just got handed a note.”
♥Strzok: 5:33pm “Ha. He asking about it now?”
♦Page: 5:34pm “Yeah. It was pretty funny. Coming now.”
At 5:36pm Devlin Barrett tweets:

Meadows says that the texts show "a coordinated effort on the part of the FBI and DOJ to release information in the public domain potentially harmful to President Donald Trump's administration." 

Revisiting the FBI-CNN connection

Going back to the internal FBI emails revealed in May by Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI), we find that McCabe had advance knowledge of CNN's plans to publish the Steele Dossier report.

In an email to top FBI officials with the subject "Flood is coming," McCabe wrote: “CNN is close to going forward with the sensitive story ... The trigger for them is they know the material was discussed in the brief and presented in an attachment.” McCabe does not reveal how he knew CNN’s “trigger” was Comey's briefing to Trump.

McCabe shot off a second email shortly thereafter to then-Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates along with her deputy, Matthew Alexrod, with the subject line "News."

“Just as an FYI, and as expected,” McCabe wrote, “it seems CNN is close to running a story about the sensitive reporting.” Again, how McCabe knew this is unclear and begs investigation.
Johnson also wanted to know when FBI officials "first learned that media outlets, including CNN, may have possessed the Steele dossier. " 

As The Federalist noted in May, "To date, there is no public evidence that the FBI ever investigated the leaks to media about the briefing between Trump and Comey. When asked in a recent interview by Fox News Channel’s Bret Baier, Comey scoffed at the idea that the FBI would even need to investigate the leak of a secret briefing with the incoming president."

“Did you or your subordinates leak that?” Baier asked.
“No,” Comey responded. “I don’t know who leaked it.”
“Did you ever try to find out?” Baier asked.
“Who leaked an unclassified public document?” Comey said, even though Baier’s question was about leaking details of a briefing of the incoming president, not the dossier. “No,” Comey said.

And now it looks like we have an answer for why the FBI never investigated the leak...

Source: https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-09-14/strzok-wanted-hunt-down-trump-team-using-fbi-steele-dossier-report-leaked-cnn

Share:

Read More