1) Buried in the IG report is a line that poses an enormous question, one that is central to everything, and really must be answered.
Remember: According to all relevant players, prior to July of 2016, nobody had a Trump-Russia collusion narrative on their minds. ...(cont)
Remember: According to all relevant players, prior to July of 2016, nobody had a Trump-Russia collusion narrative on their minds. ...(cont)
2)Indeed, the FBI says it was only the Downer tip-off at end-July that spurred the investigation. Downer for his part says it was public revelation in July of the DNC hack that caused him to finally wonder about collusion and connect his spring conversation with Papadopoulos.
3)Fusion GPS's Glenn Simpson, meanwhile, in Senate testimony, "stress[ed]" he hired Steele in May to look at Trump's "business activities" in Russia....By Simpson's telling (under penalty of perjury), Steele just sort of stumbled on this much "broader" "political conspiracy."
4) But here is what Steele told the IG: That in May 2016, Simpson approached Steele to "assist in determining Russia's actions related to the 2016 election"; "whether Russia was trying to achieve a particular election outcome"; and...
5)"whether there were any ties between the Russian government and Trump and his campaign." (Page 93) Seems Simpson had a pretty good bead on the "narrative" long before the govt. claims to have had it and before even his own source had reported it to him. Huh.
6) Let's hope Attorney John Durham provides some answers on who exactly knew what in the spring of 2016.
