Although the Trump team has sought to put an end to the various currently unfolding Russia investigations, they’ve been unsuccessful in their attempts, and both the handful of Congressional inquiries and the inquiry of Special Counsel Robert Mueller are continuing to proceed for the time being.
The latest development in the Congressional inquiries into Russian election meddling and possible Trump team cooperation in that meddling came on Tuesday, when ranking Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee Dianne Feinstein decided to release the full transcript of Fusion GPS head Glenn Simpson’s testimony before her committee last August.
Read the transcript of his testimony for yourself below.
Fusion Gps by Neetzan on Scribd
Feinstein released the transcript after its release had been stalled for some time, with both Simpson and his associate head of Fusion GPS pushing the committee to release it as recently as last week. Fusion GPS cooperated with former British spy Christopher Steele in the creation of the so-called Trump dossier, a collection of allegations about the man who is now president’s ties to Russia.
Simpson and Peter Fritsch wrote in a piece that appeared in The New York Times:
‘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. It’s time to share what our company told investigators.’
Feinstein was on board with this, commenting:
‘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.’
In the wake of the transcript being released, various interests have been pouring over the documents, and one tidbit has stuck out — a claim from Glenn Simpson’s lawyer that someone has already been murdered over the publication of the Steele dossier.
!!!
Glenn Simpson’s lawyer said someone has been killed as a result of the Steele dossier being published. pic.twitter.com/TMjbi7oPU7
— Kyle Cheney (@kyledcheney) January 9, 2018
Simpson’s lawyer Joshua Levy revealed as much to the members of the committee after his client refused to answer a couple of questions about steps that Fusion GPS took to verify the credibility of the sources used for the dossier. Republicans — led by Donald Trump himself — have long sought to cast the dossier into doubt in an effort to derail the Russia investigation.
When pressed, Levy explained his client’s refusal to answer questions as follows:
‘It’s a voluntary interview, and in addition to that he wants to be very careful to protect his sources. Somebody’s already been killed as a result of the publication of this dossier, and no harm should come to anybody related to this honest work.’
One of the first to point out the wild claim from Levy, journalist Kyle Cheney, noted that Levy may be referring to an already publicly known suspicious death.
Colleagues are pointing to this story suggesting this could be what Levy was referring to: https://t.co/azOIsZIRwQ
— Kyle Cheney (@kyledcheney) January 9, 2018
Back in early 2017, former KGB official Oleg Erovinkin was found dead in his car, and although there is no apparent confirmation that he was a source for the dossier, he does fit the description of one of the sources for the dossier.
Putin has been accused in the past of orchestrating his rivals’ deaths, although it’s uncertain that such is what happened in Oleg Erovinkin’s case.
Nevertheless, the death raises the stakes of the question of whether or not the dossier is credible, seemingly casting the odds in the favor of those who assert that it is.
Maybe it’s just me, but it seems like if the dossier was a fake, people wouldn’t be getting killed over it… https://t.co/C3q6TylAaq
— Caroline O. (@RVAwonk) January 9, 2018
Featured Image via Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg via Getty Images
