Fusion GPS retracted a significant claim that they made during a closed-door testimony — further damaging the credibility of the anti-Trump dossier that the opposition research firm compiled.
Glenn Simpson, co-founder of Fusion GPS, claimed in August 2017 and in January of this year that the FBI had a source inside the Trump presidential campaign that was feeding them information which gave credibility to the anti-Trump dossier paid for by Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign and the Democratic National Committee, The Washington Times reported.
Those statements are false, or, as Fusion GPS puts it, were “mischaracterized” by Simpson.
The source that tipped off the FBI was apparently an Australian diplomat who was told by George Papadopoulos over drinks that a professor linked to the Russians knew that the Russian government had thousands of Hillary Clinton’s emails.
According to The Times, Simpson testified, “Essentially what he told me was they had other intelligence about this matter from an internal Trump campaign source and that — that they — my understanding was that they believed [former British spy Christopher Steele] at this point — that they believed Chris’s information might be credible because they had other intelligence that indicated the same thing, and one of those pieces of intelligence was a human source from inside the Trump organization.”
However, after Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) released the transcripts of Simpson’s secret testimony, a source close to Fusion GPS stated that Simpson’s statements were inaccurate.
NBC reporter Ken Dilanian tweeted: “A source close to Fusion GPS tells me there was no walk-in source — that was a mischaracterization by Simpson of the Australian diplomat tip about Papadopoulis.”
Former Secret Service agent and conservative media commentator, Dan Bongino, offered his take as to why Feinstein released the transcripts of the secret testimony. “The release of the Simpson transcript had nothing to do with “transparency” and everything to do with avoiding future false [statements] charges,” wrote Bongino.