Rare Contributor
A conservative news website was originally behind the project that eventually led to a dossier that included unverified information about ties between President Donald Trump and Russia.
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The Washington Free Beacon reported that they funded the project through Fusion GPS, a commercial research and strategic intelligence firm. The publication revealed the information through their lawyer to the House Intelligence Committee on Friday.
The Washington Examiner first reported the connection, and the Free Beacon then confirmed it.
The publication funded the project until the spring of 2016, at which point Hillary Clinton’s campaign and the Democratic National Committee started funding the research.
Up until the point that the Free Beacon ceased funding the project, it was focused on multiple Republican candidates, not ties between Trump and Russia, according to the publication.
RELATED:Â Turns out the Clinton campaign helped pay for the dossier on Trump’s alleged Russian ties
Former British intelligence agent Christopher Steele was also not hired by Fusion GPS until after the Free Beacon stopped funding the project. Steele was the one who compiled the dossier, sometimes referred to as the “Steele dossier,” which included information regarding President Trump’s unverified ties to Russia.
“Representatives of the Free Beacon approached the House Intelligence Committee today and offered to answer what questions we can in their ongoing probe of Fusion GPS and the Steele dossier,” the Free Beacon’s Editor in Chief Matthew Continetti and Chairman Michael Goldfarb said in a statement. “The Free Beacon had no knowledge of or connection to the Steele dossier, did not pay for the dossier, and never had contact with, knowledge of, or provided payment for any work performed by Christopher Steele.”
Questions about who funded the dossier have circulated for some time. The Washington Post reported earlier this week that after a conservative source stopped funding the project, Hillary Clinton’s campaign and the DNC retained Fusion GPS’s services to continue the project. However, Clinton and other high-level campaign staffers and DNC officials have insisted that they didn’t know about the dossier until after the election.
