Former British spy ‘desperate’ to stop Trump presidency
A FORMER British spy behind a dossier of lurid claims against Donald Trump had admitted he was “desperate” to stop him becoming US president, it emerged yesterday.
According to a newly released memo, Christopher Steele told a US justice official before the 2016 election that he wanted to stop Mr Trump winning.
Republicans held up the comment as proof the former MI6 agent had “ideological” motives that threw into question the reliability of his evidence.
The previously undisclosed conversation came in a classified memo from Republican congressmen that Mr Trump approved for release yesterday.
It criticised the way the FBI and US justice department used Mr Steele’s claims to approve a wiretap on a Trump campaign adviser. The memo claimed the wiretap request failed to mention that Mr Steele may be politically biased and had been paid $160,000 (£113,000) by the Democrats.
But leading Democrats called the memo a “shameful effort” to discredit the intelligence services and undermine an investigation into Russian election meddling that has blighted Mr Trump’s presidency.
The president, who declassified the memo despite a rare public warning from the FBI, expressed fury at the leading officials involved – raising fears he could fire some of them.
Asked if he retained confidence in Rod Rosenstein, who is overseeing the Russian investigation, Mr Trump responded: “You figure that one out.”
Mr Steele, a former MI6 agent, was thrust into the spotlight last year when a dossier he compiled before the US election contained claims that Mr Trump asked prostitutes to take part in lurid sex acts while visiting Russia – something he categorically denied.
Republicans argued the Trump-russia investigation was overwhelmingly triggered by Mr Steele. But Democrats said the Trump campaign discussed dirt on Hillary Clinton with Russian figures, and the inquiries remained legitimate.
John Mccain the Republican senator, said the latest attacks on the FBI and justice department served no interests “other than Putin’s”.
THE FBI secured a warrant to wiretap an official on Donald Trump’s presidential campaign by repeatedly concealing from a special court that they were relying on information paid for by Democrats, according to an explosive declassified memo.
It suggested the bureau and department of justice relied heavily on a dossier provided by Christopher Steele, the former British intelligence officer, without revealing to the court that he had ultimately been funded by the Democratic National Committee and the Clinton campaign.
The three-and-a-half page memo was written by Republicans on the House intelligence committee based on what they have learnt in an investigation. It was released publicly after being declassified by Mr Trump.
Devin Nunes, the Republican chairman of the committee, said it showed “serious violations of the public trust” by intelligence and law enforcement agencies. According to the memo on Oct 21 2016, a warrant was sought and
obtained for electronic surveillance of Carter Page, a volunteer adviser to the Trump campaign who had travelled to Russia. The warrant was sought under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA). Such warrants have to be renewed in a secret court every 90 days.
Each time there has to be a “probable cause” shown, and submissions to the court are classified. The memo said the integrity of the process, and public trust in it, was “necessarily dependent
on the government’s production to the court of all material and relevant facts”.
But it said: “In the case of Carter Page, the government had at least four independent opportunities before the FISA court” but “material and relevant information was omitted”.
It said the dossier provided by Mr Steele had formed an “essential part” of the warrant application. But Mr Steele, a longtime FBI source, “had been paid over $160,000 (£113,000) by the Democratic
National Committee and the Clinton campaign”.
Payments were via Perkins Coie, the law firm, and Fusion GPS, the opposition research firm, “to obtain derogatory information on Donald Trump’s ties to Russia”, the memo said.
It said neither the original application, nor any of the 90-day renewals, disclosed the role of the DNC or Clinton campaign “even though the origins of the Steele dossier were then known
to senior justice department and FBI officials”. The memo said: “The application does not mention Steele was ultimately working on behalf of – and paid by – the DNC and Clinton campaign.”
In its application to the FISA court, the FBI had also cited extensively from a Yahoo News article of Sept 23 2016 about Page’s trip to Moscow.
The memo said: “This article does not corroborate the Steele dossier because it is derived from information leaked by Steele himself to Yahoo News. Steele has admitted in British court filings that he met with Yahoo News – and several other outlets.”
The memo said Mr Steele was “suspended and then terminated” as an FBI source for “the most serious of violations” – unauthorised disclosure of his relationship with the FBI to the media.
This demonstrated that Mr Steele had “become a less than reliable source for the FBI” but the department of justice still maintained contact with him.
Democrats on the House intelligence committee called the release of the memo a “shameful effort to discredit” the FBI, the justice department and the ongoing investigation by Robert Mueller, the special counsel, into Russian alleged meddling in the 2016 election.
The Democrats said: “The selective release and politicisation of classified information sets a terrible precedent and will do long-term damage to the intelligence community and our law enforcement agencies.”
Christopher Wray, the FBI director, was said to have “raised hell” ahead the release amid speculation he might quit.