The Center for American Progress Action Fund, the sister advocacy organization of the George Soros-funded Center for American Progress (CAP), recently launched a project seeking to raise money to investigate alleged collusion between Russia and Donald Trump’s presidential campaign.
Calling itself the Moscow Project, the CAP’s latest incarnation says its aim is “uncovering the truth about Trump and Russia.”
The Moscow Project focuses heavily on the controversial, largely discredited 35-page dossier on Trump compiled by former British intelligence officer Christopher Steele, who was reportedly paid by Democrats and anti-Trump Republicans to investigate Trump.
The dossier contains wild and unproven claims about Trump and sordid sexual acts, including the mocked claim that Trump hired prostitutes and had them urinate on a hotel room bed.
The CAP Moscow Project’s website, which features an entire section titled “Dossier,” asks users to create an account and help to annotate and corroborate the Steele dossier.
“Using the Genius tool on this webpage, you can create an account, highlight a portion of the dossier’s text, and add a comment that includes corroborating evidence.”
The main page of the Project’s website utilizes the Russia allegations to fundraise:
The Moscow Project is dedicated to investigating the extent, nature, and purpose of Trump’s ties to the Kremlin—but we need your help. By scouring the internet to investigate allegations, donating to fund our research, or sharing our findings on Twitter and Facebook, you can help uncover the truth about Trump and Russia.
Despite a lack of evidence proving Russia interfered in the election, the website states matter-of-factly that “Russia’s interference in the 2016 presidential election was an unprecedented attack on American democracy and a deliberate attempt to place Donald Trump in the White House.”
Without citing any proof, the site advocates a conspiracy theory that Trump is obedient to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The main page states:
Given Trump’s obedience to Vladimir Putin and the deep ties between his advisers and the Kremlin, Russia’s actions are a significant and ongoing cause for concern.
The president of the Center for American Progress Action Fund board of directors is Neera Tanden, who also serves as president of the CAP.
Last month, Tanden exclaimed that Democrats are “literally just asking” for an investigation into Russian collusion allegations, claiming the issue has not been debated publicly among Congressional committee members.
The CAP is financed by Soros’s Open Society Foundations.
CAP was founded by John Podesta, the former chairman of Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign. Podesta previously served as a counselor for President Obama’s White House and chief of staff to President Bill Clinton.
The Steele dossier, meanwhile, served as a “road map” for the FBI’s investigation into claims of coordination between Moscow and members of Trump’s presidential campaign, the BBC reported last week.
The FBI is not alone in relying on Steele. Earlier this month, Rep. Adam Schiff, the ranking Democrat on a House intelligence committee, cited Steele as a source repeatedly when he delivered his opening statements at a hearing where he laid out the case for alleged Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election.
The Washington Post reported that after being paid to compile opposition research on Trump by the billionaire’s opponents during the election, Steele “reached an agreement with the FBI a few weeks before the election for the bureau to pay him to continue his work, according to several people familiar with the arrangement.”
Ultimately, the FBI did not pay Steele, the Post reported.
The Post continued:
Communications between the bureau and the former spy were interrupted as Steele’s now-famous dossier became the subject of news stories, congressional inquiries and presidential denials, according to the people familiar with the arrangement, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter.
In light of the Post report, Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley earlier this month sent a letter requesting information on whether the FBI utilized Steele.
In the letter, Grassley questioned the FBI’s intentions over the Steele report:
The idea that the FBI and associates of the Clinton campaign would pay Mr. Steele to investigate the Republican nominee for President in the run-up to the election raises further questions about the FBI’s independence from politics, as well as the Obama administration’s use of law enforcement and intelligence agencies for political ends.
Citing current and former government officials, the New Yorker reported the dossier prompted skepticism among intelligence community members, with the publication quoting one as saying it was a “nutty” piece of evidence to submit to a U.S. president.
Steele’s work has been questioned by former acting CIA director Morell, who currently works at the Hillary Clinton-tied Beacon Global Strategies LLC. Beacon was founded by Phillippe Reines, who served as Communications Adviser to Hillary Clinton while she was Secretary of State. From 2009-2013, Reines also served in Clinton’s State Department as the Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Strategic Communications. Reines is the managing director of Beacon.
NBC News reported on Morell’s questions about Steele’s credibility:
Morell, who was in line to become CIA director if Clinton won, said he had seen no evidence that Trump associates cooperated with Russians. He also raised questions about the dossier written by a former British intelligence officer, which alleged a conspiracy between the Trump campaign and Russia. …
Morell pointed out that former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper said on Meet the Press on March 5 that he had seen no evidence of a conspiracy when he left office January 20.
“That’s a pretty strong statement by General Clapper,” Morell said.
Regarding Steele’s dossier, Morell stated, “Unless you know the sources, and unless you know how a particular source acquired a particular piece of information, you can’t judge the information — you just can’t.”
Morell charged the dossier “doesn’t take you anywhere, I don’t think.”
“I had two questions when I first read it. One was, How did Chris talk to these sources? I have subsequently learned that he used intermediaries.”
Morell continued:
And then I asked myself, why did these guys provide this information, what was their motivation? And I subsequently learned that he paid them. That the intermediaries paid the sources and the intermediaries got the money from Chris. And that kind of worries me a little bit because if you’re paying somebody, particularly former FSB officers, they are going to tell you truth and innuendo and rumor, and they’re going to call you up and say, “Hey, let’s have another meeting, I have more information for you,” because they want to get paid some more.
I think you’ve got to take all that into consideration when you consider the dossier.
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.
With additional research by Joshua Klein.
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