James Comey’s decision to probe Hillary Clinton’s emails just days before the 2016 election upset Christopher Steele, the ex-M16 agent behind the infamous Russia dossier.
The anti-Trump Steele thought that Comey had done something “treasonous” – whether to Clinton or the United States is unclear – according to a new book by the co-founders of the opposition research firm Steele worked for, Fusion GPS, the Washington Examiner reported. Steele was reportedly angry that Comey did not reveal that the FBI was investigating Trump at the time.
In fact, Comey’s “treachery” convinced Steele to leak the dossier, the book claims.
Book: Steele released dossier after Comey’s “treason”
The new details add to the picture of a foreign agent with an axe to grind against President Trump. Republicans have long accused Steele of harboring a bias towards Trump, which manifested in “collusion” with the U.S. intelligence community and the Democrats, who partly paid for Steele’s anti-Trump dossier.
Hillary Clinton has never forgiven Comey for his October 2016 letter announcing that he was re-opening the FBI’s probe into her emails, and it appears that Steele felt the same way. In a new book, Crime in Progress: Inside the Steele Dossier and the Fusion GPS Investigation of Donald Trump, Fusion co-founders Glenn Simpson and Peter Fritsch write that Comey’s letter felt like a “conspiracy” to help Trump win.
Comey had re-opened the probe after discovering a fresh batch of e-mails on the laptop of Anthony Weiner, the disgraced husband of Clinton confidante Huma Abedin. After a brief review, Comey announced two days before the election that his prior conclusion – that Clinton was not liable for criminal wrongdoing – had not changed.
Steele and members of Fusion were reportedly angry that Comey did not simultaneously disclose the Trump-Russia probe, which had begun in July 2016, to the public. Steele, who was investigating Trump for Fusion at the time, called Comey’s letter “treasonous” and “unconscionable” – and in fact he was so rattled that it motivated him to leak the dossier.
Then an FBI informant, Steele was fired by the bureau after he told reporter David Corn, who wrote the first news article mentioning the dossier for Mother Jones, about the document. Steele was so angry that he did not warn his FBI handler about the leak, telling the contact that “any misstep by Orbis [Steele’s company] or Fusion pales in comparison to what Comey did in disclosing the Hillary investigation.”
Further evidence of anti-Trump bias
According to the official narrative, the probe started when ex-Trump campaign member George Papadopoulos told an Australian diplomat about “Russian dirt” on Hillary Clinton that he was teased about by Josef Mifsud, a Maltese professor.
But Republicans have alleged that Steele’s salacious dossier formed the basis of the Trump-Russia investigation, including FISA warrants to spy on a Trump campaign associate Carter Page. The Trump-Russia probe evolved into Robert Mueller’s probe after Trump fired Comey in May of 2017, and almost two years later Mueller found that Trump did not collude with Russia – discrediting Steele’s dossier and its outlandish allegations for good.
The dossier was introduced to the public after Comey briefed Trump on its contents in January 2017. That briefing has been scrutinized as a “set up” by Comey, who went into the meeting planning to secretly record Trump’s reaction as part of his investigation of Trump, which Trump did not know about at the time.
That Steele was apparently so rattled by Comey’s “treachery” against Clinton appears to justify Republican suspicions that the Trump-Russia probe was not on the level. At the same time, Comey is alleged to have been part of a conspiracy with Steele, Fusion, and the Democrats to set Trump up.
Comey has admitted to leaking memos of his conversations with Trump to the press to spark a Special Counsel investigation of the president. A report on alleged FISA abuse at the FBI will be released on December 9, and attorney general Bill Barr is leading a criminal investigation of the Trump-Russia probe.
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