XPost: alt.fan.rush-limbaugh, alt.politics.usa, alt.tv.pol-incorrect   
   XPost: alt.politics.trump, alt.politics.corruption, rec.arts.tv   
   From: bondrock@att.net   
      
   REPUBLICANS ARE PRETENDING THEY DIDN'T FUND THE TRUMP GOLDEN SHOWER   
   DOSSIER BEFORE HILLARY CLINTON   
      
   Shortly after a report emerged Tuesday evening claiming that Hillary   
   Clinton’s campaign and the Democratic National Committee in part funded a   
   dossier containing explosive allegations about President Donald Trump’s   
   links to Russia, the Republican National Committee trumpeted the story in   
   outrage.   
      
   Related: Here’s What the 'Golden Shower' Dossier Now Being Investigated by   
   Mueller Claims About Trump and Russia   
      
   There was just one problem with the version of the Washington Post story   
   that the RNC reposted on its website: a line stating that prior to the   
   Clinton campaign picking up the tab, the research was “funded by an   
   unknown Republican during the GOP primary” was notably absent.   
      
   It has been widely reported for several months that the campaign of an   
   anti-Trump Republican initially funded the dossier before Democrats took   
   over payments to Washington firm Fusion GPS as the 2016 primaries began to   
   conclude.   
      
   The Post’s story came amid intensifying efforts from some Republicans on   
   Capitol Hill to compel Fusion GPS to reveal who financed the dossier,   
   which was compiled by former British intelligence operative Christopher   
   Steele. Last week, two partners in the firm appeared before the House   
   Intelligence Committee but refused to testify.   
      
   A lawyer for Fusion GPS, Josh Levy, accused the Republican chairman of the   
   committee, Devin Nunes, of an “abuse of power” for his issuing of a   
   subpoena. The firm has said it will not violate its clients’   
   confidentiality and have accused Republicans of a campaign designed to   
   discredit it and its research.   
      
   Trump suggested, without evidence, last week that Democrats, the FBI,   
   Russia, or a combination of all three may have been responsible for   
   financing the dossier.   
      
   The 35-page dossier contains a series allegations concerning Russia’s   
   attempts to help Trump get elected, including claims of contacts between   
   Russian officials and the Trump campaign. Trump's personal lawyer Michael   
   Cohen is heavily featured in the dossier and appeared Tuesday before a   
   closed hearing of the House Intelligence Committee. He was due to meet   
   with the Senate Intelligence Committee on Wednesday.   
      
   The dossier began to come to light late last year, when Steele shared some   
   of his findings with the FBI and reached an initial agreement for the   
   bureau to continue to fund its research. The deal never came to fruition   
   but a report of the findings was passed by FBI Director James Comey to   
   then President Barack Obama and President-elect Trump shortly before   
   January's inauguration.   
      
   Trump has called the dossier “totally made-up stuff” and also slammed   
   Steele as a “failed spy.” Steele is widely respected in intelligence   
   circles and spent time working in Moscow under diplomatic over toward the   
   end of the Cold War. The man leading the investigation into Russia’s   
   interference in the 2016 election, Robert Mueller, would also appear to be   
   taking the dossier’s findings seriously. His team has taken over   
   scrutinizing the findings and recently met with Steele.   
      
   Following Tuesday’s news, Clinton’s former campaign press secretary Brian   
   Fallon tweeted that “if even a shred of that dossier ends up helping   
   Mueller, it will prove money well spent.”   
      
   http://www.newsweek.com/republicans-trump-russia-dossier-clinton-692664   
      
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