ABC: Dossier Was Stalled In NY FBI Office For Weeks After Russia Probe Launched

Close-up of the seal of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) of the wall of J Edgar Hoover FBI Building, Washington DC, January 21, 2017. (Photo by Mark Reinstein/Corbis via Getty Images)
Start your day with TPM.
Sign up for the Morning Memo newsletter

The Christopher Steele “dossier,” which contains salacious claims about President Trump and his ties to Russia, was reportedly stuck in a FBI field office in New York for several weeks in July 2016, during the same time period that officials in Washington, D.C. had already begun looking into Trump campaign associates’ ties to Russia, ABC News reported.

While it’s known that former Trump campaign aide, George Papadopoulos, and his drunken rant about Russian dirt on Hillary Clinton in London in May 2016 are the circumstances that prompted the launch of the Russia probe, Trump has maintained that the contents of the dossier ignited the inquiry.

Steele, a former British MI6 agent was initially paid by a GOP group to collect opposition research on Trump during the primaries and the research was later bought by lawyers working for the Democratic National Committee and Hillary Clinton’s campaign.

In July 2016, Steele reportedly sent an FBI agent in Rome the information he had collected. That agent then sent the opposition research to an agent in the FBI’s New York office, according to ABC’s sources. The documents were sent to the “wrong person,” ABC’s sources said, and the documents sat untouched in the field office for weeks, as counterintelligence officials in D.C. began looking into former Trump campaign associate Carter Page and chairman Paul Manafort.

“It took a long period of time for the New York field office to see it and realize what it was,” another source told ABC News. FBI officials in D.C. did not receive the dossier until September 2016.

Latest News
84
Show Comments

Notable Replies

  1. Right, it was sent to the “wrong” person, a Trump supporter undoubtedly.

  2. Gee would this be the same FBI field office that was leaking damaging info about HRC to Rudy G before the election? Go figure.

  3. So, what ever happened to the IG report about anti-HRC leaks from the NY Office during the campaign?

  4. Who promptly buried it.

  5. They need to NAME those traitor Republican FBI agents in the New York office. They need to be fired and arrested for conspiracy with Russia too. 40 years each sounds about right. No quarter for traitors.

Continue the discussion at forums.talkingpointsmemo.com

78 more replies

Participants

Avatar for sysprog Avatar for mattinpa Avatar for learning Avatar for ctvoter Avatar for steviedee111 Avatar for zoester Avatar for dont Avatar for chelsea530 Avatar for ralph_vonholst Avatar for tomanjeri Avatar for geofu54 Avatar for nomoredevil Avatar for katwillow Avatar for tena Avatar for obrien1984 Avatar for jacksonhts Avatar for asturcot Avatar for tpr Avatar for dannydorko Avatar for euglena4056 Avatar for middleway Avatar for violetsmarty Avatar for thisisourcountry Avatar for lazlowkhud

Continue Discussion
Masthead Masthead
Founder & Editor-in-Chief:
Executive Editor:
Managing Editor:
Deputy Editor:
Editor at Large:
General Counsel:
Publisher:
Head of Product:
Director of Technology:
Associate Publisher:
Front End Developer:
Senior Designer: