UPDATED to 19 January 2018
Senator Dianne Feinstein of California released the transcripts without the Judiciary Committee’s Republican chairman, Senator Charles E. Grassley of Iowa, almost certainly escalating partisan tensions on the committee CreditPete Marovich for The New York Times
Saturday, 30 December 2017, WASHINGTON, D.C. - The
New York Times reports that Trump foreign policy campaign adviser George Papadopoulos who already has pleaded guilty to lying to the F.B.I. and is cooperating with the Special Counsel Robert Mueller Trump-Russia investigation in May 2016 disclosed during a night of heavy drinking at a London bar with the top Australian diplomat there that "Russia had political dirt on Hillary Clinton." Papadopoulos reportedly had been told this information that Moscow had thousands of emails that would "embarrass" her about three weeks earlier which was even before the Democratic National Committee knew they had been stolen.
The specific information that Papadopoulos gave to the Australian diplomat, Alexander Downer, is not known, but it was of sufficient concern that when the stolen DNC emails were publicly released two months later that Australia, one of the United States' closest "Five Eyes" allies, dispatched two Australian officials to inform the F.B.I. of the encounter with the Trump campaign aide Papadopoulos who appeared to have had advance "inside" information of Russia's theft of the released DNC emails. The F.B.I. had already become concerned about the Trump campaign's connections to Russia including because of Trump campaign aide Carter Page's travel to Moscow as well as after repeated warnings from European allies particularly British and Dutch intelligence as has been previously reported of Trump campaign members' suspicious activities which U.S. European allies' intelligence believed were of concern.
It was at this point with knowledge of Russian hacking and release of stolen DNC emails having occurred as well as apparent advance inside knowledge of it by a member of the Trump campaign that the F.B.I. opened a highly secretive counterintelligence investigation into Russian election meddling as well as the Trump campaign's possible involvement with it. Contrary to one of several Trump largely nonsensical or factually inaccurate discredited counter-narratives attempted to be advanced by some with greater partisan than national security concerns this reported episode definitively now puts at least the current one favored that the F.B.I. investigation was launched based on the MI6 Steele Dossier (which in any case has proven to be accurate on every detail that so far can be verified) is not true.
The F.B.I. investigation was launched for the reasons set out above which interested readers can read about in significantly greater detail in the article linked to below which also provides a great deal more information but does not answer critical questions including to what degree Mr. Papadopoulos kept senior Trump campaign officials apprised of what he knew and when about the Russians' activities as well as whether the Trump campaign had any involvement in those activities and when they first had knowledge of them. Depending on the timing and degree of any Trump team involvement in and/or knowledge of computer hacks and data thefts they also may be guilty without limitation for violation of U.S. federal computer.
UPDATE to 3 January 2018 Interested readers can go to the third link below for a
New York Times op-ed piece from GPS Fusion founders Glenn R. Simpson and Peter Fritsch which exposes the
Republican-led congressional intelligence (and Senate Judiciary) committees as having "known for months that credible allegations of collusion between the Trump camp and Russia were pouring in from independent sources during the campaign" but keeping complete transcripts of that information from the public as Senate Judiciary Chair Chuck Grassley and especially (Recused) House Intelligence Chair Dope Devin Nunes have trafficked knowingly in false diversions including nonsensical "dossier" as well as meritless un-American Justice Department and F.B.I. attack narratives while neglecting their legitimate duties investigating Trump-Russia leaving United States national security vulnerable to continuing attacks in violation of their oaths to the Constitution as well as constituting apparent abuses of power and obstructions of justice as well as even suborning treason for which with sufficient evidence they should be prosecuted just as any other treacherous American would be.
UPDATE to 9 January 2018 Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) senior Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee today unilaterally released the full transcript of the closed testimony from last summer of Glenn R. Simpson co-founder of Fusion GPS as he and co-founder Peter Fritsch called for in the
New York Times op-ed from last week linked to below claiming the GOP-led committees before which Mr. Simpson had testified also including the House and Senate Intelligence Committees were selectively leaking testimony in escalating efforts to promote false narratives to initiate and fuel "fake investigations" to divert resources and attention from the Trump-Russia probes which they had been charged to undertake.
The normally firm but respectful of decorum Senator Feinstein's somewhat extraordinary release of the transcript unilaterally without Chair Grassley (R-IA) who has essentially fabricated reasons not to release it despite having been recorded specifically promising to do so when Senator Grassley met with constituents in person in Iowa signals a growing partisan rancor as the GOP more aggressively has sought to derail the Trump-Russia probe even with the known very real unaddressed threat of ongoing Russian interference in U.S. affairs expected certainly to continue in upcoming 2018 elections. The House and Senate Intelligence Committees reportedly have had no intention of releasing their Fusion GPS testimony transcripts presumably on the fabricated premise that it would interfere with ongoing investigations. Interested readers can go to the bottom two links for more information including a link to the full Fusion GPS Co-Founder Glenn R. Simpson Senate Judiciary Committee testimony transcript.
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https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/30/us/politics/how-fbi-russia-investigation-began-george-papadopoulos.html
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https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2018/01/02/republicans-steele-dossier-conspiracy-theory-was-dealt-a-big-blow-this-weekend/?utm_term=.982912bf9ca7 Video 1:30
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https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/02/opinion/republicans-investigation-fusion-gps.html "The Republicans Fake Investigations" By GPS Founders Glenn R. Simpson And Peter Fritsch Of Fusion GPS Who Hired Steele To Prepare Dossier Expose Republican-Led Congressional Committees Of Selectively Disclosing Interview Transcripts With Full Knowledge Dossier Had Nothing To Do With F.B.I. Starting Investigation "While The Intelligence Committees Have Known For Months That Credible Allegations Of Collusion Between The Trump Camp And Russia Were Pouring In From Independent Sources During The Campaign"
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https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/09/us/politics/feinstein-fusion-gps-glenn-simpson-transcript.html
Senate Judiciary Committee Fusion GPS Glenn R. Simpson Full Transcript 22 August 2017:
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https://www.feinstein.senate.gov/public/_cache/files/3/9/3974a291-ddbe-4525-9ed1-22bab43c05ae/934A3562824CACA7BB4D915E97709D2F.simpson-transcript-redacted.pdf
House Intelligence Committee Fusion GPS Glenn R. Simpson Full Transcript 8 & 14 November 2017:
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http://docs.house.gov/meetings/IG/IG00/20180118/106796/HMTG-115-IG00-20180118-SD001.pdf
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http://docs.house.gov/meetings/IG/IG00/20180118/106796/HMTG-115-IG00-20180118-SD002.pdf
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