Thread by @MattWolking

Senate Finance Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley sent a 6-page letter to the Defense Department yesterday, plus 4 attached exhibits totaling over 20 pages.

The subject? Stefan Halper, who was being paid by DOD while he was spying on Trump campaign officials for the FBI.

Grassley opens the letter by blasting DOD for stonewalling and lying to him for 4 months about relevant documents. grassley.senate.gov/sites/default/…

Shady as hell:

DOD paid Halper to work with Russia's former Deputy Foreign Minister, Vyacheslav Trubnikov, "a known Russian intelligence officer" named by Christopher Steele as a source in his now-debunked dossier.

Did Halper use taxpayer money to target the Trump campaign?

Grassley points out that Halper's work for DOD was also being funded in part by "unknown third parties," & that Halper was paid by DOD for work he did not actually do.

Obviously this raises a key question: was DOD paying Halper for a different, unmentioned purpose?

Grassley raises questions about whether Stefan Halper's work for DOD at taxpayer expense was "influenced by foreign individuals or entities."

Seems like a good question given Halper's collaboration with a known Russian intelligence officer.

3 very key questions here.

How compromised by foreign influence was Stefan Halper, and did DOD officials know about it?

IF DOD knew Halper had a relationship with Russian intelligence, and IF DOD was paying Halper for a different, unmentioned purpose, maybe the 2 are related.