The chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee said on Wednesday that he’s open to releasing a transcript of an interview given this week by Glenn Simpson, the co-founder of Trump dossier firm Fusion GPS.
Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley, the chairman of the committee, said at a town hall meeting that the Judiciary panel has to vote in favor of releasing a transcript of the interview between committee staff and Glenn Simpson, Fusion’s co-founder. But pressed by a constituent at the town hall, Grassley said he sees no reason why he would not vote to release the transcript
“Of course we’ll put it to a vote of the committee,” said Grassley. When asked if he would vote in favor of releasing the transcript, Grassley said: “I don’t why I wouldn’t, but I don’t want to say so.”
“I’m not going to answer your question before I get a firm footing of what the precedent is,” he added.
MSNBC host Rachel Maddow aired footage of Grassley’s comments.
If released, the transcript would no doubt shed new light on the Fusion GPS dossier, which has reportedly been used by the FBI as the basis for its investigation into whether the Trump campaign colluded with the Russian government during the presidential campaign.
It would also likely reveal Fusion GPS’ role in a controversial lobbying campaign last year against the Magnitsky Act, a law which imposes sanctions against Russian businessmen accused of human rights abuses.
Fusion GPS was working on that lobbying campaign alongside a Russian attorney and Russian-American lobbyist who attended the June 9, 2016, meeting held at Trump Tower with Donald Trump Jr., Jared Kushner and former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort.
Fusion’s work on that effort appears to be at odds with its work on the dossier, which, if true, would implicate the Kremlin in a scheme to influence the American democratic system.
While working for a political ally of Hillary Clinton, Fusion GPS hired former British spy Christopher Steele to investigate Trump’s activities in Russia. The result is a 35-page dossier of memos full of salacious and uncorroborated allegations of sexual deviancy and campaign collusion.
Trump has vehemently denied the claims in the document, which BuzzFeed News published on Jan. 10.
But Josh Levy, Simpson’s lawyer, said after his 10-hour testimony on Tuesday that the opposition researcher, a former Wall Street Journal reporter, stands by the dossier. Levy also said that Simpson declined to disclose the identities of the clients who hired his firm to investigate Trump.
Prior to working for a Clinton ally, Fusion GPS was reportedly hired by an anti-Trump Republican donor. Simpson and Fusion GPS have declined identifying the clients, citing confidentiality agreements.
At Wednesday’s town hall, Grassley told his constituent that the committee would need to allow Fusion GPS to review a transcript of the marathon interview before releasing it.
But in a statement to Maddow, Levy suggested that the Judiciary Committee can release the transcript without review.
In addition to the political clients who hired Fusion GPS, the sources who provided information to Steele have been a major interest for investigators, reporters and the public. The veracity of Steele’s document will likely hinge on his sources.
Steele reportedly paid intermediaries to obtain information from sources inside Russia. The former MI6 agent no longer operates in Russia because of his past spying activity.