Dossier drafter Steele backs off his earlier claims when faced with libel action

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In the dossier, he stated without reservation that an “extensive conspiracy between Trump’s campaign team and the Kremlin” existed.

He wrote that Mr. Trump, as a hotel builder and entrepreneur, engaged in an eight-year partnership with Russian intelligence dating back long before his presidential campaign, during which both sides traded information.

One memo also claimed that the Kremlin had compiled enough financial and personal information on Mr. Trump that it could blackmail the Republican nominee.

He wrote that Paul Manafort, Mr. Trump’s former campaign manager, and a campaign volunteer, Carter Page, in tandem orchestrated the campaign with Moscow to meddle in the race.

He also maintained that Michael Cohen, Mr. Trump’s attorney, traveled to Prague in August 2016 to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin’s personal staff and orchestrate a cover-up of the campaign’s hacking conspiracy.

All of those charges have been denied, and none has been confirmed publicly by a press leak or congressional inquiry.

It was later revealed that the campaign of Hillary Clinton helped fund the dossier, meaning that in essence her paid agent was spreading unsubstantiated charges to get to the FBI to investigate her opponent, critics say.

Now that Mr. Steele must defend those charges in a London courtroom, his confidence level has shifted down several notches.

In court filings, Mr. Steele doesn’t sound as confident.

He answered questions through his attorney in a libel complaint brought by a Russian entrepreneur, Aleksej Gubarev. Mr. Steele has accused Mr. Gubarev of being pressured by Russian’s FSB intelligence service to take part in hacking against the DEMOCRAT Party.

Steele now refers to the intelligence he gathered as “limited.”

On the charge of collusion by Mr. Trump and his campaign advisers, he now says there was only “possible coordination.”

His answer was to a question from Mr. Gubarev’s legal team on the lengths he took to brief American reporters as the fall campaign was in full swing.

Mr. Steele’s libel defense is not truth.

He argues that he warned Fusion and reporters against making his memos public and never authorized their disclosure.



https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2017/dec/20/christopher-steele-hedges-russia-dossier-claims-ag/
 
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Steele now refers to the intelligence he gathered as “limited.”

On the charge of collusion by Mr. Trump and his campaign advisers, he now says there was only “possible coordination.”

His answer was to a question from Mr. Gubarev’s legal team on the lengths he took to brief American reporters as the fall campaign was in full swing.

Mr. Steele’s libel defense is not truth.

He argues that he warned Fusion and reporters against making his memos public and never authorized their disclosure.
 
noise said:
Steele now refers to the intelligence he gathered as “limited.”

On the charge of collusion by Mr. Trump and his campaign advisers, he now says there was only “possible coordination.”

His answer was to a question from Mr. Gubarev’s legal team on the lengths he took to brief American reporters as the fall campaign was in full swing.

Mr. Steele’s libel defense is not truth.

He argues that he warned Fusion and reporters against making his memos public and never authorized their disclosure.
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Yes.

Isn't the Steele dossier the only "evidence" the accusers have?
 
God bless America said:
Yes.

Isn't the Steele dossier the only "evidence" the accusers have?
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it's becoming clear it was a basis for the FISA warrant (Clarence Page) which led to the Flynn unmasking and the FBI investigation.

Or it could be even worse if one of those FBI cowboys like Strzok or Ohr had their hands in it
 
When you can afford a team of high priced lawyers, threatening someone with a libel suit is a good way to stop them from saying things about you that you don't like. Even if those things might be true.

Trump knows all about those bully tactics.
 
Soymad said:
When you can afford a team of high priced lawyers, threatening someone with a libel suit is a good way to stop them from saying things about you that you don't like. Even if those things might be true. Trump knows all about those bully tactics.
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Trump isn't the plaintiff in the case, Soymad, and it's not a threat; the suit is filed and ongoing.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/buzzfeed-former-british-spy-christopher-steele-sued-by-russian-tech-chief-named-in-dodgy-dossier-a7563711.html

Perhaps you should read the OP before commenting.
 
Report: Russia ‘Dossier’ Based on 10-Year-Old Wall Street Journal Articles


Lee Smith of Tablet magazine has traced the origins of the Russia “dossier” — the Democrat-funded opposition research project that may have laid the foundations for the ongoing Russia investigation — to several Wall Street Journal articles that appeared in print a decade ago.

Smith’s article, “Did President Obama Read the ‘Steele Dossier’ in the White House Last August?”, suggests that the information compiled by opposition research firm Fusion GPS, with funding from Hillary Clinton’s campaign and the Democratic National Committee, could have been repackaged as genuine U.S. government intelligence and presented to President Barack Obama on that basis as his administration began investigating Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. Smith recounts how the “dossier” likely prompted the surveillance and investigation of aides to Donald Trump by the Obama administration, and efforts to delegitimize the incoming administration.

He notes:

f a sitting president used the instruments of state, including the intelligence community, to disseminate and legitimize a piece of paid opposition research in order to first obtain warrants to spy on the other party’s campaign, and then to de-legitimize the results of an election once the other party’s candidate won, we’re looking at a scandal that dwarfs Watergate—a story not about a bad man in the White House, but about the subversion of key security institutions that are charged with protecting core elements of our democratic process while operating largely in the shadows.

But the real news in Smith’s well-researched article is that the information compiled by Fusion GPS in the dossier might have relied heavily on earlier reporting done by the firm’s founder about Russian lobbying in the U.S.

Smith writes:

A Tablet investigation using public sources to trace the evolution of the now-famous dossier suggests that central elements of the Russiagate scandal emerged not from the British ex-spy Christopher Steele’s top-secret “sources” in the Russian government—which are unlikely to exist separate from Russian government control—but from a series of stories that Fusion GPS co-founder Glenn Simpson and his wife Mary Jacoby co-wrote for The Wall Street Journal well before Fusion GPS existed, and Donald Trump was simply another loud-mouthed Manhattan real estate millionaire.

Simpson and Jacoby co-wrote a Journal article in April 2007, “How Lobbyists Help Ex-Soviets Woo Washington.” In it, Smith notes, they identified Paul Manafort as a key player in introducing Russians to Beltway circles. They kept reporting on him over the years. When Manafort was hired to manage the Trump campaign, Simpson — by now running Fusion GPS — made him a focus of his research, and knew enough background information to build a plausible case.

Smith points out that Fusion GPS had few sources within Russia. Nellie Ohr, who also worked with Fusion GPS and happened to be married to a senior official in Obama’s Department of Justice, had not lived in Russia for decades. on the Even former Christopher Steele, the former British spy who was hired to work on the dossier, probably had few good contacts. Simpson’s earlier Journal reporting was probably his best resource. And the CIA and FBI probably had few better sources: as Smith points out, their intelligence on Russia was terrible.

So the entire Russia investigation may not be based on actual intelligence at all, but on reporting that is ten years out of date. Manafort’s enduring Russia ties certainly provided fodder for Special Counsel Robert Mueller, but the overall theory that Russia may have colluded with the Trump campaign is looking shoddier than ever.
http://www.breitbart.com/big-journa...sed-10-year-old-wall-street-journal-articles/
 
An attorney for a Russian business executive who filed a lawsuit against BuzzFeed News in February said on Thursday that they have identified the person who gave the anti-Trump dossier to the left-leaning website.

The attorney representing Aleksej Gubarev, Val Gurvits, revealed that they recently discovered who gave BuzzFeed News the unverified anti-Trump dossier...




https://www.dailywire.com/news/24989/lawyer-anti-trump-dossier-lawsuit-says-theyve-ryan-saavedra
 
Yeppers :laugh:

"Investigators say McCabe recounted to the panel how hard the FBI had worked to verify the contents of the anti-Trump 'dossier' and stood by its credibility," James Rosen reported. "But when pressed to identify what in the salacious document the bureau had actually corroborated, the sources said, McCabe cited only the fact that Trump campaign adviser Carter Page had traveled to Moscow. Beyond that, investigators said, McCabe could not even say that the bureau had verified the dossier’s allegations about the specific meetings Page supposedly held in Moscow."
 
Was there a concerted Russian attempt to interfere in the 2016 election?

Could such an operation have been mounted without the approval of the Kremlin?

What did they hope to gain by it? Doesn't that bother you?
 
Simpson’s earlier Journal reporting was probably his best resource. And the CIA and FBI probably had few better sources: as Smith points out, their intelligence on Russia was terrible.

So the entire Russia investigation may not be based on actual intelligence at all, but on reporting that is ten years out of date. Manafort’s enduring Russia ties certainly provided fodder for Special Counsel Robert Mueller, but the overall theory that Russia may have colluded with the Trump campaign is looking shoddier than ever.
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for this thin, re-hashed gruel the FBI counterintelligence investigation and the Special Councsl was empowered?
 
God bless America said:
In the dossier, he stated without reservation that an “extensive conspiracy between Trump’s campaign team and the Kremlin” existed.

He wrote that Mr. Trump, as a hotel builder and entrepreneur, engaged in an eight-year partnership with Russian intelligence dating back long before his presidential campaign, during which both sides traded information.

One memo also claimed that the Kremlin had compiled enough financial and personal information on Mr. Trump that it could blackmail the Republican nominee.

He wrote that Paul Manafort, Mr. Trump’s former campaign manager, and a campaign volunteer, Carter Page, in tandem orchestrated the campaign with Moscow to meddle in the race.

He also maintained that Michael Cohen, Mr. Trump’s attorney, traveled to Prague in August 2016 to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin’s personal staff and orchestrate a cover-up of the campaign’s hacking conspiracy.

All of those charges have been denied, and none has been confirmed publicly by a press leak or congressional inquiry.

It was later revealed that the campaign of Hillary Clinton helped fund the dossier, meaning that in essence her paid agent was spreading unsubstantiated charges to get to the FBI to investigate her opponent, critics say.

Now that Mr. Steele must defend those charges in a London courtroom, his confidence level has shifted down several notches.

In court filings, Mr. Steele doesn’t sound as confident.

He answered questions through his attorney in a libel complaint brought by a Russian entrepreneur, Aleksej Gubarev. Mr. Steele has accused Mr. Gubarev of being pressured by Russian’s FSB intelligence service to take part in hacking against the DEMOCRAT Party.

Steele now refers to the intelligence he gathered as “limited.”

On the charge of collusion by Mr. Trump and his campaign advisers, he now says there was only “possible coordination.”

His answer was to a question from Mr. Gubarev’s legal team on the lengths he took to brief American reporters as the fall campaign was in full swing.

Mr. Steele’s libel defense is not truth.

He argues that he warned Fusion and reporters against making his memos public and never authorized their disclosure.



https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2017/dec/20/christopher-steele-hedges-russia-dossier-claims-ag/
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Typical partisan nonsense from the Washington Times.

Filled with innuendo, supposition and speculation passed off as fact.

So naturally, Trumpkins take it as gospel truth.

What's wrong, couldn't find a source with MORE bias towards Democrats?
 
Steele now refers to the intelligence he gathered as “limited.”
On the charge of collusion by Mr. Trump and his campaign advisers, he now says there was only “possible coordination.”

Direct quotes are innuendo? LOL
 
Nomad said:
When you can afford a team of high priced lawyers, threatening someone with a libel suit is a good way to stop them from saying things about you that you don't like. Even if those things might be true.

Trump knows all about those bully tactics.
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Truth is an absolute defense to libel. Why would he back down from the truth?
 
ZappasGuitar said:
Typical partisan nonsense from the Washington Times.

Filled with innuendo, supposition and speculation passed off as fact.

So naturally, Trumpkins take it as gospel truth.

What's wrong, couldn't find a source with MORE bias towards Democrats?
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Yet you always take rawstory as gospel. Do you deny he is walking back his assertions? What exactly is the supposition and speculation?
 
Yaya said:
What did I say that is naive?
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Go back and read it.

Everyone knows that's not how civil law in this country works itrl. Those with unlimited resources have the ability to keep legal actions in the courts for years which can intimidate a legal opponent, causing them to fear going broke and into debt.
 
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