
Committee chairman Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) and ranking member Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) talk with each other during a hearing on December 6, 2017 in Washington, DC. (Photo: Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
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Committee chairman Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) and ranking member Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) talk with each other during a hearing on December 6, 2017 in Washington, DC. (Photo: Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
U.S. Senator Diane Feinstein, a California Democrat and ranking member on the Senate Intelligence Committee, released on Tuesday the complete transcript of testimony given by Glenn Simpson, co-founder of the political research firm Fusion GPS, which originally commissioned the now infamous "Steele Dossier" which documents unsubstantiated yet explosive claims about the relationship between President Donald Trump and Russian officials.
In a statement released alongside more than 300 pages of Simpson's tesimony (pdf), Feinstein said, "The American people deserve the opportunity to see what he said and judge for themselves. The innuendo and misinformation circulating about the transcript are part of a deeply troubling effort to undermine the investigation into potential collusion and obstruction of justice. The only way to set the record straight is to make the transcript public."
Among the explosive highlights contained in the transcript, as the Daily Beastreports, was that Simpson told the committee how the FBI had told Steele they had a "walk-in" whistleblower "from within the Trump campaign or organization" who may have offered damning evidence to law enforcement officials.
Though released on her own accord without permission of the GOP-controlled committee, Feinstein's decision comes days after it was learned that Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) had issued a criminal referral to the Department of Justice for Christopher Steele, the former British intelligence officer who compiled the dossier at the request of GPS.
In an op-ed in the New York Times last week, Simpson, along with fellow GPS co-founder Peter Fritsch, said publicly they wanted the testimony given to the committee released. "Republicans have refused to release full transcripts of our firm's testimony, even as they selectively leak details to media outlets on the far right," Simpson and Fritsch wrote. "It's time to share what our company told investigators."
The two men said they were proud of their work--conducted at the behest of paying clients--but said it was time to "stop chasing rabbits" in terms of misinformation about the role they played in creating the controversial dossier and how its existence and contents have been manipulated in the ever-growing spectacle of the Trump-Russia probe. "The public still has much to learn about a man with the most troubling business past of any United States president," the two men concluded. "Congress should release transcripts of our firm's testimony, so that the American people can learn the truth about our work and most important, what happened to our democracy."
Kevin Breuninger at CNBCdetailed other key highlights contained in the transcript as these:
And here's the complete 312-page transcript:
Fusion GPS transcript by The Hill Newspaper on Scribd
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U.S. Senator Diane Feinstein, a California Democrat and ranking member on the Senate Intelligence Committee, released on Tuesday the complete transcript of testimony given by Glenn Simpson, co-founder of the political research firm Fusion GPS, which originally commissioned the now infamous "Steele Dossier" which documents unsubstantiated yet explosive claims about the relationship between President Donald Trump and Russian officials.
In a statement released alongside more than 300 pages of Simpson's tesimony (pdf), Feinstein said, "The American people deserve the opportunity to see what he said and judge for themselves. The innuendo and misinformation circulating about the transcript are part of a deeply troubling effort to undermine the investigation into potential collusion and obstruction of justice. The only way to set the record straight is to make the transcript public."
Among the explosive highlights contained in the transcript, as the Daily Beastreports, was that Simpson told the committee how the FBI had told Steele they had a "walk-in" whistleblower "from within the Trump campaign or organization" who may have offered damning evidence to law enforcement officials.
Though released on her own accord without permission of the GOP-controlled committee, Feinstein's decision comes days after it was learned that Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) had issued a criminal referral to the Department of Justice for Christopher Steele, the former British intelligence officer who compiled the dossier at the request of GPS.
In an op-ed in the New York Times last week, Simpson, along with fellow GPS co-founder Peter Fritsch, said publicly they wanted the testimony given to the committee released. "Republicans have refused to release full transcripts of our firm's testimony, even as they selectively leak details to media outlets on the far right," Simpson and Fritsch wrote. "It's time to share what our company told investigators."
The two men said they were proud of their work--conducted at the behest of paying clients--but said it was time to "stop chasing rabbits" in terms of misinformation about the role they played in creating the controversial dossier and how its existence and contents have been manipulated in the ever-growing spectacle of the Trump-Russia probe. "The public still has much to learn about a man with the most troubling business past of any United States president," the two men concluded. "Congress should release transcripts of our firm's testimony, so that the American people can learn the truth about our work and most important, what happened to our democracy."
Kevin Breuninger at CNBCdetailed other key highlights contained in the transcript as these:
And here's the complete 312-page transcript:
Fusion GPS transcript by The Hill Newspaper on Scribd
U.S. Senator Diane Feinstein, a California Democrat and ranking member on the Senate Intelligence Committee, released on Tuesday the complete transcript of testimony given by Glenn Simpson, co-founder of the political research firm Fusion GPS, which originally commissioned the now infamous "Steele Dossier" which documents unsubstantiated yet explosive claims about the relationship between President Donald Trump and Russian officials.
In a statement released alongside more than 300 pages of Simpson's tesimony (pdf), Feinstein said, "The American people deserve the opportunity to see what he said and judge for themselves. The innuendo and misinformation circulating about the transcript are part of a deeply troubling effort to undermine the investigation into potential collusion and obstruction of justice. The only way to set the record straight is to make the transcript public."
Among the explosive highlights contained in the transcript, as the Daily Beastreports, was that Simpson told the committee how the FBI had told Steele they had a "walk-in" whistleblower "from within the Trump campaign or organization" who may have offered damning evidence to law enforcement officials.
Though released on her own accord without permission of the GOP-controlled committee, Feinstein's decision comes days after it was learned that Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) had issued a criminal referral to the Department of Justice for Christopher Steele, the former British intelligence officer who compiled the dossier at the request of GPS.
In an op-ed in the New York Times last week, Simpson, along with fellow GPS co-founder Peter Fritsch, said publicly they wanted the testimony given to the committee released. "Republicans have refused to release full transcripts of our firm's testimony, even as they selectively leak details to media outlets on the far right," Simpson and Fritsch wrote. "It's time to share what our company told investigators."
The two men said they were proud of their work--conducted at the behest of paying clients--but said it was time to "stop chasing rabbits" in terms of misinformation about the role they played in creating the controversial dossier and how its existence and contents have been manipulated in the ever-growing spectacle of the Trump-Russia probe. "The public still has much to learn about a man with the most troubling business past of any United States president," the two men concluded. "Congress should release transcripts of our firm's testimony, so that the American people can learn the truth about our work and most important, what happened to our democracy."
Kevin Breuninger at CNBCdetailed other key highlights contained in the transcript as these:
And here's the complete 312-page transcript:
Fusion GPS transcript by The Hill Newspaper on Scribd