Feinstein Disses GOP, Releases Transcript of Dossier Interview

It suggests that someone in the Trump campaign was talking to the FBI
By John Johnson,  Newser Staff
Posted Jan 9, 2018 2:52 PM CST
Someone in Trump Campaign May Have Been Talking to FBI
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, talks with Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., in a file photo.   (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

Dianne Feinstein just pulled an end-around on her GOP colleagues and released the full transcript of the testimony from the co-founder of the company behind the controversial dossier on then-candidate Donald Trump. It may take a while for media outlets to sift through, but the Washington Post reports on an early revelation: The transcript suggests that somebody inside the Trump campaign was talking to the FBI. The key quote from Glenn Simpson of Fusion GPS comes as he is discussing the work of former British spy Christopher Steele, who authored the final dossier for Fusion. Simpson says Steele reached out to the FBI in July over his concerns about collusion between the campaign and Russia, then was re-interviewed by the agency in October.

"My understanding was that they believed Chris at this point—that they believed Chris might be credible because they had other intelligence that indicated the same thing, and one of those pieces of intelligence was a human source from inside the Trump organization," Simpson said. He added that he thought the source was "someone like us who decided to pick up the phone and report something." Simpson testified back in August, and last week he called for his full transcript to be released because he says Republicans are trying to downplay the Russian connection he voiced concerns about. Senate Judiciary Committee chief Charles Grassley balked at releasing the transcript, and Feinstein did so without his consent, reports Politico. (More Dianne Feinstein stories.)

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