CNN Analyst: Steeles Meeting With DOJ Will Not End Up Well For Dossier Author
Chuck Ross | Investigative Reporter
A CNN analyst said Tuesday that dossier author Christopher Steele should not meet with the Justice Department because doing so “will not end up well” for the former British spy.
“If you go to car races looking for car wrecks, this is significant. This will be a car wreck,” Phil Mudd, a former FBI official, told CNNs Wolf Blitzer.
“I cant believe he has perfect answers about the origins of the Steele dossier. Im not even sure why hes showing up. If I were him, Id go to Disney World. I would not go to the Department of Justice, because it will not end up well.”
Mudd, who worked at the CIA and also served as deputy director of the FBIs national security branch, speculated that Steeles meeting with the Justice Department will not end well for him because of the flimsiness of the allegations in his controversial report.
“Let me give you how this game ends. Christopher Steele shows up in front of the Department of Justice and Im guessing doesnt have terrific answers for the quality of the information in that Steele dossier,” said Mudd.
WATCH:
Steele, a former MI6 officer, plans to meet with U.S. officials within weeks to discuss the dossier, which alleged a vast conspiracy between the Trump campaign and Russian government, The Times of London reported Tuesday. (RELATED: Christopher Steele Reportedly Agrees To Meet With Justice Department)
The Justice Departments office of the inspector general is investigating the FBIs handling of the dossier as well as the bureaus use of Steele as a confidential source.
Steele has denied requests for past meetings with the Justice Department, but The Times reported that he would agree to meet with U.S. officials in London, as long as he would only be required to discuss his interactions with the FBI regarding the dossier.
The FBI relied heavily on Steeles report to obtain Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) warrants against Carter Page, a former Trump campaign adviser. Steeles report, which was funded by the Clinton campaign and DNC, also fueled media speculation that President Donald Trump was compromised by the Kremlin and that campaign associates colluded with Russia to influence the 2016 election.
The special counsels report dealt a heavy blow to the dossier. The probe was unable to establish a conspiracy involving the Trump campaign. The report also undercut a key claim in the dossier: that former Trump attorney Michael Cohen visited Prague in August 2016 to meet with Kremlin insiders to discuss paying off hackers. Cohen has denied all of the allegations against him in the dossier, which BuzzFeed published on Jan. 10, 2017.
Susan Hennessey, a former National Security Agency lawyer and CNN analyst, attemptedRead More – Source
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