A CNN panel falsely blamed both Republicans and Democrats for financing a dossier on Donald Trump that was assembled by British former spy using Russian sources.
Wolf Blitzer, host of CNN’s “The Situation Room,” falsely said that a Republican donor originally funded the dossier. One of his panelists, Washington Post editor David Swerdick, backed up Blitzer’s false claim. Swerdick claimed that who funded the dossier was relatively unimportant because, he said, “both sides had a hand in this.”
That is false.
A Republican donor did pay Fusion GPS to conduct opposition research on Trump during the primary but the firm never commissioned the dossier to British ex-spy Christopher Steele until the Clinton campaign and DNC began paying Fusion — months after the Republican donor had left the picture. (RELATED: Democrats’ Russia Narrative Spiraling Out Of Control)
Here’s what Steele filed in London court earlier this year — Fusion hired his firm in *June*. GOP client dropped in March, we now know. pic.twitter.com/NSwlcS0Jre
— Chuck Ross (@ChuckRossDC) October 25, 2017
Fact-checkers have rated it “false” that Republicans paid for the dossier.
Despite the facts, both Blitzer and Swerdick falsely informed viewers that Republicans had paid for the dossier. None of the other panelists corrected the false claim that a Republican donor paid for the dossier.
WATCH:
THE LATEST ON CLINTON TIES TO THE TRUMP DOSSIER:
WHAT IS FUSION GPS AND THE TRUMP DOSSIER: