Yes, Virginia … Someone WAS Colluding With Russia During the Election

Sometimes, it’s possible to drop a “bomb” so precisely that its detonation is washed out by the chaos that it creates.

Such was the case Wednesday during the Senate Judiciary Committee’s annual oversight hearing with FBI Director James Comey. Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) was asking questions about the much-maligned Christopher Steele dossier on President Donald Trump and members of his 2016 presidential campaign staff when he dropped his bomb on Democrats.

Grassley asked if the FBI was aware that Steele, a former British spy, was working for Fusion GPS, which at the time was also working for the Russian government as an unregistered agent in violation of the Foreign Agent Registration Act. It was during a portion of the hearing where Comey was refusing to answer questions publicly because of the classified nature of his potential answers, so many in the media likely missed it.

But this is an issue Grassley has been asking the FBI director about for more than a month, and it proves, conclusively, that someone was colluding with the Russians during the 2016 presidential campaign. So, let’s connect the dots.

Fusion GPS

Fusion GPS is an opposition research firm started up by former Wall Street Journal investigative reporter Glenn Simpson, which has deep-seated ties to the Democratic Party and liberal activism.

Remember when Planned Parenthood paid for that “forensic analysis” that determined the Center for Medical Progress videos were “deceptively edited”? That was Fusion GPS’ work.

But, according to Grassley, Fusion GPS also has worked on behalf of the Russian government in an effort to defeat the Global Magnitsky Act. It was named for a lawyer who suspiciously died in Russian custody after accusing Russian government officials and members of organized crime of using corporate identity theft against Hermitage Capital Management to fraudulently obtain and launder $230 million and imposed sanctions against those involved and other Russians accused of human rights violations.

During the 2016 campaign, Fusion GPS worked alongside Rinat Akhmetshin, a Russian immigrant, who has since admitted to being a “soviet counterintelligence officer.” The goal was to lobby congressional staffers to attempt to undermine the Justice Department’s account of Magnitsky’s death and the crime he uncovered in an effort to have the Global Magnitsky Act repealed.

Akhmetshin, a Russian immigrant, had a long history of lobbying the U.S. government for pro-Russia matters. Fusion GPS’s role was to generate “negative press coverage” of Hermitage and its CEO, William Browder.

In March, Grassley asked the Department of Justice for an update on a complaint filed by Browder against Fusion and Akhmetshin. Neither were registered as foreign agents under the Foreign Agent Registration Act.

Christopher Steele

Christopher Steele, a former Moscow field agent for the British intelligence service MI6, is an employee of London-based Orbis Investigations. Initially, he kept his role in the anti-Trump dossier secret, but he eventually allowed himself to be interviewed by liberal mainstream media outlets in his effort to get the documents published during the election.

According to media interviews Steele and Simpson conducted, the “oppo” project was initially funded by a #NeverTrump Republican during the fall of 2015. But once it was clear Trump would be the GOP nominee, Simpson sought out funding from Democrats to keep the “investigation” going.

It is estimated he was paid $12,000 to $15,000 per month, plus expenses, to dig up as much dirt as he could find on the would-be president in Russia. But, because of his personal history, he couldn’t actually return to Russia to do the dirty work, so he said in those interviews that he relied entirely upon sources in the country that he had used while working for Her Majesty’s Secret Intelligence Service.

The FBI

According to the media interviews Steele conducted during the early days of the “leaking” process, he shared the dossier with agents in the FBI’s Eurasian Joint Organized Crime Squad. According to his account, which would jibe with much of what we know is true about the bureau’s handling of the dossier, they wanted everything they could get from him.

In testimony during a classified briefing with Grassley and Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Dianne Feinstein, D.-Calif., Comey apparently gave answers to questions that weren’t consistent with documents the Department of Justice later submitted. Comey said Wednesday he didn’t believe there was any inconsistency, and said he believed he could clear the matter up with Grassley in another classified briefing.

However, a letter Grassley sent the FBI director last week makes it clear he believes there was at least some consideration on the bureau’s part to pay Steele for his “investigative work” in Russia. The senator has demanded documentation and answers, and is threatening to put holds on Department of Justice nominations until he gets them.

In Summary

So, let’s condense this down. Fusion GPS, which has worked for the Democrats and liberal causes in the past, was hired by the Russian government to stop a law from going into effect. At the same time, it was hired to conduct “oppo” research on then-candidate Donald Trump by a #NeverTrump Republican.

Fusion GPS hired Orbis Intelligence’s Christopher Steele to conduct the oppo investigation, but because he was unable to physically enter Russia, he relied upon sources in country. These sources allegedly included high-ranking members of the Russian government.

When the Republican stopped funding the investigation, Fusion GPS turned to Democrats for its financial support to continue. Meanwhile, Steele shared his findings with the FBI, which asked for everything it could get from him, and may have even offered to pay him more to keep digging.

If that doesn’t sound like collusion, we’re not sure what does. {eoa}