Former Obama State Department official Jonathan Winer, in an attempt to come clean and shape the narrative before being exposed, confirmed that he passed on a dossier from Clinton operatives to the author of the infamous Trump dossier.
In an op-ed in the Washington Post on Thursday titled “Devin Nunes is investigating me. Here’s the truth,” Winer publicly confirmed reports that he had passed on a report he received from Clinton operatives to dossier author Christopher Steele in the fall of 2016, right before the election.
He also confirmed that those Clinton operatives were aware of the dossier effort — making Hillary Clinton’s denials of knowing about the dossier even less credible than they were already. Winer purported to tell “the real story” in his piece, in which he claimed his actions were taken because he was “so alarmed” by Russia’s role in the 2016 election.
Winer admitted to becoming friends with Steele in 2009, after he had left the State Department and started a consulting business. After he rejoined the State Department in 2013, Steele, who was already retired from British intelligence, would send him reports he would pass on to then-senior State Department official Victoria Nuland.
Winer admitted that in summer 2016, Steele told him he had learned of “disturbing information” regarding possible ties between Donald Trump, his campaign, and senior Russian officials. He then met with Steele in Washington in September 2016, and was allowed to review — but not take a copy — of the Steele dossier in order to “alert the State Department.”
As reported by True Pundit months ago (Oct. 9, 2017), now comes confirmation in the Washington Post.
The MSM eventually catches up.
David J. Kramer, a former State Department official and longtime associate of John McCain, received a copy of the infamous, largely discredited 35-page dossier on President Donald Trump directly from the controversial Fusion GPS political opposition research firm.
Kramer obtained the dossier from Fusion GPS after McCain expressed interest in the document, according the report. McCain then reportedly passed the dossier directly to FBI Director James Comey.
The new details mark the clearest indication yet that McCain may have known that the dossier originated with Fusion GPS, meaning that he may have knowingly passed on political opposition research to the FBI.
Until now, it has not been clear whether McCain was aware of the origins of the dossier when he hand delivered the unsubstantiated document to Comey.
McCain has not responded to multiple Breitbart News requests seeking comment on the matter.
[give_form id=”79809″]The two founders of Fusion GPS wrote an Op-Ed piece in the New York Times’ Wednesday edition, largely blaming the Republican party for the embattled research firm’s swelling problems.
And they blamed President Donald Trump too.
But amid all their finger pointing and GOP-laced anger, the duo of Glenn R. Simpson and Peter Fritsch actually ratted out Sen. John McCain as the probable source who leaked the bogus Trump dossier.
In fact, the two Fusion GPS executives admitted they helped get the dossier into McCain’s hands and not Buzzfeed.
This is why investigators and prosecutors love it when suspects in a case offer a written statement or alibi, because so often key admissions are made that help boost the case against the suspects instead of exoneration.
Fusion GPS is no exception.
The Fusion GPS founders say they are proud of the research conducted by former MI6 spy Christopher Steele, even though virtually all of it is unfounded, unproven and fabricated. Simpson and Fritsch write:
Instead, we deferred to Mr. Steele, a trusted friend and intelligence professional with a long history of working with law enforcement. We did not speak to the F.B.I. and haven’t since.
After the election, Mr. Steele decided to share his intelligence with Senator John McCain via an emissary. We helped him do that. The goal was to alert the United States national security community to an attack on our country by a hostile foreign power. We did not, however, share the dossier with BuzzFeed, which to our dismay published it last January.
It doesn’t get much more damning than that for McCain. In fact, that is called getting thrown under a bus. Was it intentional? Quite likely, as Fusion GPS looks to offload some of the heavy heat it has been receiving from the White House and President Trump directly.
And while shocking on one level, that information actually dovetails with previous reporting by True Pundit.
An Oct. 9, 2017 article in True Pundit — nearly three months ago — detailed McCain’s involvement:
But now court documents and new source Intel raise suspicions that McCain may have chipped in financially with the FBI or privately funded the counterfeit research, either himself or through his shady foundation.
Regardless, the research firm of former spooks — Fusion GPS who commissioned the problematic report — could have been paid for the same report by the multiple entities:
- The FBI, through a black-budget fund as reported by True Pundit
- John McCain campaign coffers and connections
- McCain’s foundation: Arizona State University’s McCain Institute for International Leadership
- Hillary Clinton-backed campaign operatives who paid $1 million for the research
Ye olde triple dip by Fusion GPS. Smart profit model perhaps especially while peddling a very poor product and when it comes to cutting deals with Comey, the FBI and McCain: a lesson in who not to do business with.
According to a court document (attached below) in a British lawsuit against the author of the Fusion GPS report, Christopher Steele, McCain along with a man named David Kramer were the first people to obtain the Trump dossier.
Kramer, a virtual mystery man before the election, previously worked for the State Department under Hillary Clinton. During the 2016 election, Kramer reportedly worked as senior director for Arizona State University’s McCain Institute for International Leadership.
McCain and Kramer shopped the damaging dossier to the U.S. media with hopes the press would jump on the opportunity to smear Trump. These included: The New York Times, The Washington Post, Yahoo News, the New Yorker and CNN and others. Only lowly liberal rag sheet Mother Jones took the poisoned bait and sprinted to publish portions of the dossier.
When the mainstream media balked, McCain shopped the dossier to Comey. According to True Pundit’s reporting, the FBI cut what now appears to be a side deal to further underwrite Steele’s unfounded research.
Did McCain augment the FBI’s payment to Steele with his own cash? Did McCain push or vouch for the FBI’s payment to Steele? Or Did McCain, through his campaign coffers or shady foundation, underwrite the research before DNC-backed entities also paid for it?
Or did all of this take place in an elaborate, much larger plot to discredit and unseat President Trump?
How was McCain the first person to obtain the falsified research if he didn’t in fact have a role in commissioning the dossier? It was provided to no other U.S. senator.
Other True Pundit articles dealing with McCain’s links to the Trump dossier include:
Oct. 9, 2017: New Evidence Shows McCain Helped Fund FBI Plot to Frame Trump; Backed Bogus Russian Trump Dossier
Sept. 14, 2017 FBI Paid $100K+ For Concocted Trump Dossier During Election; John McCain Helped Broker Classified Deal With Comey
Nov. 16, 2017 As Criminal Scandals Implicating McCain Unfold, ‘Declining’ Health Has Become an Off-Broadway Production
[give_form id=”79809″]Fusion GPS claims it is their First Amendment right to investigate Trump. I must have missed that in History class or doing Intel work. Privately commissioned Intel is NOT covered anywhere by the Bill of Rights. And false Intel – like lies in Trump dossier – are likely criminal.
— Thomas Paine (@Thomas1774Paine) January 3, 2018