TEL AVIV — Glenn R. Simpson, the co-founder of the controversial opposition research firm Fusion GPS, which is behind the largely discredited 35-page anti-Trump dossier, explained in testimony released publicly last week that his firm works to “customize a research solution” based on the “problem” of each client.
The statements may raise more questions about the veracity of the dossier accusing Donald Trump and his 2016 presidential campaign of ties with Russia. The questionable document reportedly served as part of the basis for the FBI’s investigation into Trump’s presidential campaign.
Simpson’s statements are significant in light of the disclosure last April that Fusion GPS’s anti-Trump work was financed by Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign and the Democratic National Committee (DNC).
In August 22 testimony released last week and reviewed in full by Breitbart News, Steele stated, “Another thing we say about our work is it’s custom information, it’s a customized product. You tell us what your problem is and we customize a research solution.”
Simpson was responding to a question about “concerns that the work being done was driven in a direction designed to reach a particular conclusion for a client or because of the client’s identity.”
Simpson claimed that the client doesn’t dictate a specific “result” for the firm to conclude in its work. “In general when people come to us and they tell us what their challenge is, we stipulate that they retain us for 30 days, they agree to pay our fee, they don’t tell us what to do, they don’t tell us, you know, what result to get. I like to call it a holistic methodology.”
As Breitbart News reported yesterday, Simpson conceded in his testimony that he opposed Trump’s presidential candidacy and that his negative opinions of the politician may have “entered” into his “thinking.”
In October, the Washington Post reported that in April 2016, attorney Marc E. Elias and his law firm Perkins Coie retained Fusion GPS to conduct the firm’s anti-Trump work on behalf of both Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign and the Democratic National Committee (DNC).
Through Perkins Coie, Clinton’s campaign and the DNC continued to fund Fusion GPS until October 2016, days before Election Day, the Post reported.
While it is not clear how much the Clinton campaign or the DNC paid Fusion GPS, the UK Independent, citing campaign finance records, reported that the Clinton campaign doled out $5.6 million to Perkins Coie from June 2015 to December 2016. Records show that since November 2015, the DNC paid the law firm $3.6 million in “legal and compliance consulting.”
The BBC reported that the information in the dossier, compiled by former British spy Christopher Steele, served as a “roadmap” for the FBI’s investigation into claims of coordination between Moscow and members of Trump’s presidential campaign.
Last April, CNN reported that the dossier served as part of the FBI’s justification for seeking the FISA court’s reported approval to clandestinely monitor the communications of Carter Page, the American oil industry investor who was tangentially and briefly associated with Trump’s presidential campaign.
Aaron Klein is Breitbart’s Jerusalem bureau chief and senior investigative reporter. He is a New York Times bestselling author and hosts the popular weekend talk radio program, “Aaron Klein Investigative Radio.” Follow him on Twitter @AaronKleinShow. Follow him on Facebook.
Written with additional research by Joshua Klein.
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