Court documents show that Fusion GPS, the research firm behind the Trump dossier, made payments to three unnamed journalists between June 2016 until February 2017, according to a report in the Washington Examiner. In a court filing, the House Intelligence Committee described the journalists as being responsible for reporting on “Russia issues relevant to [the committee’s] investigation.”
The revelation lends more credence to suspicions that the firm, which has connections to the Democratic Party, used questionable intelligence to create a narrative of collusion between the Trump campaign and Russian officials.
The payments were revealed in documents filed by Fusion GPS with the U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C. The names of the journalists, along with the amounts and purpose of the payments, were redacted.
Opposition Research Firm Covering Its Tracks
The D.C.-based firm refutes the idea that it had paid journalists to write stories about Trump-Russia connections. A statement provided to the Washington Examiner by a lawyer for the firm dismissed connections between the payments and the media’s Russia reporting.
“Fusion GPS is a research firm set up by former investigative journalists. As such, it sometimes works with contractors that have specialized skills seeking public information. Contractors are not permitted to publish any articles based on that work, and Fusion GPS does not pay journalists to write stories.”
The tales of Fusion GPS’s involvement in the 2016 election is being exposed, layer by layer. Just weeks ago, it came to light that the firm had been paid by the Clinton Campaign and Democratic National Committee to dig up information damaging to then-candidate Trump. It is yet to be determined whether the FBI itself also funded Fusion’s opposition research.
The Real Collusion Exposed
The principal author of the infamous Trump dossier, former British intelligence officer Christopher Steele, had briefed several American media outlets on his alleged findings in September of 2016. All but one outlet choose not to print details from the dossier since none of the information could be corroborated.
Ironically, the evidence of collusion between Fusion GPS and people with connections to the Russian government is irrefutable. Meanwhile, four separate investigations into alleged collusion between the Russians and the Trump campaign have, thus far, failed to turn up anything conclusive – or even compelling. Fusion is known to have been paid for lobbying work on behalf of associates of Russian President Vladimir Putin. Christopher Steele obtained the unsubstantiated information for the dossier from former and current Russian government officials.
Follow The Money
In such investigations as the one the House Intelligence Committee is pursuing, the term “follow the money” is often used as a general guide to uncovering the truth. To date, a trail of payments from the Democratic Party and the Hillary Clinton campaign flow through a law firm to Fusion GPS and then on to American journalists and Russian officials.
In the other direction, unverified information and claims about Donald Trump flowed back to Fusion GPS, to the media and to the Department of Justice. Subsequently, the FBI, congressional committees, and a special counsel spend many months conducting fruitless investigations into the president’s campaign. Clearly, colluding with foreign agents to undermine the presidential election did indeed take place – and those who are truly responsible for collusion are gradually being sucked deeper into the investigation.
