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Former Agent Who Wrote Trump-Russia Memos Frustrated by Lack of FBI Action
Your News Companion
Jan. 14 2017 6:44 PM
Former Agent Who Wrote Trump-Russia Memos Frustrated by Lack of FBI Action
Alex Wong/Getty Images
The former British intelligence agent who compiled the salacious dossier
detailing close links between Donald Trump and the Kremlin became very
frustrated by the FBI’s failure to act on the information he had given
the bureau. The former agent, who has been identified as Christopher
Steele, “came to believe there was a cover-up, that a cabal within the
Bureau blocked a thorough inquiry into Mr Trump, focusing instead on the
investigation into Hillary Clinton’s emails,” reports the Independent,
citing unnamed “security sources.” Steele, a former MI6 agent, was so
worried about what he found out when he was doing opposition research
that he decided British and American intelligence officials should have
the information.
Steele, and a colleague in Washington, former Wall Street Journal reporter
Glenn Simpson, were so flabbergasted by the FBI’s failure to do
anything that they both continued looking into the allegations without
getting paid.
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Even as the former intelligence agent and the former
reporter sent more and more documents to the FBI, there was little
progress in any investigation. The two came to believe there was a
particular problem in the New York office, which “appeared to be on a
crusade against Mrs Clinton,” notes the Independent.
These revelations about Steele’s feelings toward the Bureau
came a day after Democrats also expressed their deep frustration with
the FBI in general, and its director, James Comey, in particular. A
closed-door meeting on Friday between intelligence chiefs and lawmakers reportedly turned into a confrontation,
in which Democrats demanded to know why Comey repeatedly talked about
the investigation into Clinton’s emails but always refused to say
anything public about any possible probe into Trump’s ties with Russia.
Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz specifically asked Comey why
he never called her directly to tell her that the Democratic National
Committee was hacked. The FBI only reached out to a tech contractor and
was in touch with him for months before anyone in the organization’s
leadership was informed. Rep. Nancy Pelosi was reportedly so frustrated
with Comey’s answers that she chastised him for being “condescending to
members.”
“A great many members are concerned with whether the
director has employed a double standard,” Rep. Adam Schiff of California
said after the meeting.
Meanwhile, intelligence agencies around the world are
reportedly looking into what are really multiple reports alleging
Trump’s close ties to the Kremlin, according to two Israeli intelligence officers who spoke to BuzzFeed.
And the salacious dossier, which was published by BuzzFeed earlier this
week, is apparently not the only one making the rounds. “There have
been various reports about Trump’s ties to Russia,” one of the Israeli
intelligence officers said. “The dossier is one of them, but there are
others, they make other allegations. Some are more specific, and some
are less. You can trust me that many intelligence agencies are trying to
evaluate the extent to which Trump might have ties, or a weakness of
some type, to Russia.”
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