White House Claims Clinton Campaign ‘Lied’ About Funding Dossier Research

White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders calls on a member of the media during the daily briefing in the Brady Press Briefing Room of the White House, Friday, Oct. 20, 2017, in Washington. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)
White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders calls on a member of the media during the daily briefing in the Brady Press Briefing Room of the White House, Friday, Oct. 20, 2017, in Washington. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)
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White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders on Tuesday claimed the “real Russia scandal” was that Hillary Clinton’s campaign and the Democratic National Committee partly paid for the research that led to the so-called Trump dossier.

“The real Russia scandal?” Sanders tweeted. “Clinton campaign paid for the fake Russia dossier, then lied about it & covered it up.”

Hours earlier, Sanders told a reporter, “I wouldn’t use the Washington Post as my source.”

Sanders linked to a tweet by New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman, who in turn linked to a report by the Washington Post on the DNC’s and Clinton campaign’s funding of research firm Fusion GPS’ work.

New York Times reporter Kenneth Vogel on Tuesday said Clinton campaign attorney Marc Elias, who, with his law firm Perkins Coie, retained Fusion GPS, “pushed back vigorously” when Vogel tried to report on the connection.

The Washington Post reported that Elias’ firm did not inform Clinton’s campaign or the DNC of the research firm’s role, and noted it is “standard practice” for political campaigns to hire researchers using law firms in order to guarantee the protection of “attorney-client and work product privileges.”

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