U.K. Court documents released on Wednesday reveal that as early as July 5, 2016, the FBI was aware that former MI6 agent Christopher Steele had acknowledged that then-presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton personally knew that he was commissioned to compile the now thoroughly discredited Trump-Russia dossier.
Notes taken by the FBI indicate that Steele was told that Clinton herself was aware that he was commissioned to create the Trump-Russia dossier which alleges collusion between Donald Trump’s presidential campaign and the Russian government during the 2016 election, amongst various other wild allegations.
Three months later, the FBI would conceal this critical information from the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC) in order to obtain a warrant to spy on Trump’s tangential campaign adviser, Carter Page.
On Wednesday, a London judge ordered Steele to pay damages to two Alfa Bank partners for publishing “inaccurate or misleading” material in his infamous dossier, including claims that the banks funneled “illicit cash” to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The 57-page court ruling reveals that the FBI recorded notes of the July 5th meeting they held with Steele at his London Orbis Business office, where he handed the FBI the documents containing his unsubstantiated, largely-discredited anti-Trump charges.
The FBI noted that Steele had told them that his Orbis Business Intelligence firm was contracted by Glenn Simpson of Fusion GPS and “Democratic Party Associates” to produce the dossier, but that he knew “the ultimate client were (sic) the leadership of the Clinton presidential campaign.”
Steele is also documented alerting the FBI that he was aware that Clinton herself knew he was commissioned to create the dossier. One section of the court documents reads as follows (emphasis added):
Mr Steele’s evidence is that he now believes the Ultimate Client was the Democratic National Committee. Mr Millar submits that the Ultimate Client was the Clinton election campaign, “Hillary for America”. This is in line with the FBI Note of 5 July 2016, which records Mr Steele telling the FBI that Orbis had been instructed by Mr. Simpson of Fusion and “Democratic Party Associates” but that “the ultimate client were (sic) the leadership of the Clinton presidential campaign.” The FBI Note also indicates that Mr. Steele had been told by that stage that Mrs. Clinton herself was aware of what Orbis had been commissioned to do.
The explosive FBI notes undermine the representation that it would make in an error-ridden Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) application three months later, in order to spy on Page.
In late October 2016, then-FBI director James Comey signed the first of three successful FISA applications to obtain warrants to spy on Page. The second and third were renewal applications, since a FISA warrant requires a renewal every 90 days.
A footnote in Carter Page’s October 21st FISA application (and two subsequent renewals submitted to the FISC), omitted the key fact that the FBI had documented Steele’s knowledge of Clinton’s role in the dossier, as well as her awareness that he was tasked to compile it.
Instead, the FBI footnote makes no mention of Steele’s awareness of his ultimate clients, which would have undermined the credibility of the dossier which the FBI relied on in large part in it’s FISA application against Page.
The footnote in all three of the FISA application read (emphasis added):
Source #1 [Steele], who now owns a foreign business/financial intelligence firm,was approached by an identified U.S. person [Simpson] who indicated to Source #1 that a U.S.-based law firm had hired the identified U.S. person to conduct research regarding Candidate #1’s ties to Russia. (The identified U.S. person and Source #1 have a long-standing business relationship.) The identified U.S. person hired Source #1 to conduct this research. The identified U.S. person never advised Source #1 as to the motivation behind the research into candidate #1’s ties to Russia. The FBI speculates that the identified U.S. person was likely looking for information that could be used to discredit Candidate #1’s campaign
The deceptive phraseology that the FBI “speculates” on possible bias when it knew Steele was aware that the ultimate clients were not Simpson but Clinton herself, demonstrates that the FBI–which is obligated to add any exculpatory evidence in applying for FISA warrants–was intentionally deceiving in its representations in the FISA application and renewals.
Breitbart News previously reported how Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz found “at least 17 significant errors and omissions” in the Carter Page federal surveillance application that enabled the investigation into Donald Trump’s presidential campaign in 2016.
The dossier would eventually set in motion the entire Russia hoax narrative, leading to the appointment of a special counsel investigation led by Robert Mueller, to investigate “any links and/or coordination between the Russian government and individuals associated with the campaign of President Donald Trump.”
After nearly two years, the investigation concluded that it “did not establish that members of the Trump Campaign conspired or coordinated with the Russian government in its election interference activities.”
Breitbart news previously reported that during a Capitol Hill testimony following the release of his report, Mueller said he was “not familiar” with Fusion GPS — the firm whose opposition research included allegations of President Trump’s connections to Russia in the run-up to his two-year investigation.
On Saturday, in response to the U.K. court’s findings against Steele, President Trump tweeted his abhorrence:
“This man should be extradited, tried, and thrown into jail. A sick lier who was paid by Crooked Hillary & the DNC!” he wrote.
The newly revealed information contained in the U.K. court document adds yet another avenue for U.S. Attorney John Durham, who is currently investigating the origins of the Russian hoax, to explore.
Follow Joshua Klein on Twitter @JoshuaKlein.
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