Getting to the Bottom of Chris Steele’s Role in Final Weeks of 2016 Campaign

I wanted to flag a couple of key things that came earlier this week, both turning on the role of British ex-spy Christopher Steele and his so-called dossier. The first is a new ‘letter’, actually, in this case, a criminal referral, from Senators Grassley and Graham. It’s been around for a month and its existence was reported some time ago. But we only just got a public (albeit heavily redacted) copy. The second item is an article in The Washington Post which explains new details about Steele’s activities in late 2016. Both of them overlap on key events which took place at the end of October 2016 and which I want to discuss with you. But first, let me provide you with some background and summary of this Grassley/Graham letter (we’ll call it GG).

The best way to see the Grassley/Graham letter (GG) is that it is the thinking man’s Nunes Memo – a much more sophisticated and professional version of what is, I think, still basically bunk. As with the Nunes Memo, the aim of the GG Letter is to impugn and undermine Steele and by extension the whole Russia probe. But it takes a different tack. The argument is that Steele lied to the FBI and that because he lied he is not credible. This fatally undermines the Carter Page FISA warrant. In other words, we’re talking about a similar set of facts with a slightly different argument and slightly different targets.