Dec 26, 2017

Trump quotes Jason Chaffetz and says dossier is "bogus"

The president watched Fox & Friends and tweeted Tuesday morning...

He was quoting former congressman Jason Chaffetz, who appeared on the show and said, "The dossier we have long known is bogus. The question is, how was it funded? And that question has not been answered yet."

Follow the money:

  • The dossier — which contains salacious but unverified claims about Russian intelligence officers possessing video tapes of Trump's conduct in a Moscow hotel room — was prepared by former British intelligence officer Christoper Steele, who was sought out by Washington-based investigative firm Fusion GPS.
  • Fusion GPS was initially hired by the Free Beacon, whose owner supported Marco Rubio's candidacy, to collect damaging information about Trump.
  • After it became clear Trump would be the nominee, a lawyer representing Clinton and the DNC enlisted Fusion GPS, which in turn sought out Steele's services.
  • The FBI agreed to pay Steele to continue his work after the election, but ultimately backed out when Steele was identified publicly.

Go deeper: The big questions surrounding the Trump-Russia dossier

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