According to a new report from Fox News Fusion GPS never verified the claims in the dossier and gave it to news outlets because they wanted payback for Comey opening up Hillary investigation.
The co-founder of the firm behind the anti-Trump ‘dossier’ told House investigators Tuesday that he personally discussed with members of the media allegations of Trump-Russia collusion, though he did not speak to the sources behind the claims, a source told Fox News.
According to a source familiar with the matter, Fusion GPS co-founder Glenn Simpson refused to answer key questions during his seven-hour, closed-door appearance before the House Intelligence Committee. The source said he would not answer questions on his relationship with specific journalists or ties to the Democratic National Committee and Hillary Clinton campaign, which financed the anti-Trump research via the law firm Perkins Coie.
But the source said Simpson acknowledged he did not personally look into certain aspects of the dossier — which was authored by former British intelligence officer Christopher Steele and contained salacious allegations about the Trump team’s ties to Russia.
Simpson told investigators he never spoke to the underlying sources of the document, never traveled to Russia and did not verify the dossier beyond comparing the claims to “open source†media reporting.
The source said Simpson also told investigators he was “upset†when then FBI Director James Comey re-opened the Hillary Clinton email investigation in late October 2016, and Simpson wanted to push back.
Simpson’s appearance was arranged last week in coordination with his attorneys.
The committee initially sought to subpoena Simpson, but withdrew it in exchange for his voluntary testimony.
This adds an entirely new wrinkle to this already explosive story. Now, not only could Steele not verify the Dossier but Fusion GPS didn’t even try. Why didn’t they try? Well, that now seems pretty clear. As the source states Simpson was “upset” about the re-opening of the Clinton investigation and decided to push back with unverified claims.
