Politics

Documents Show Steele Dossier Was Just Political Mud-Slinging For Clinton Campaign

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David Krayden Ottawa Bureau Chief
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Documents released by the State Department indicate the discredited Steele dossier containing alleged accounts of Donald Trump’s sexual peccadilloes while colluding with Russians officials was always intended as a political document for the Hillary Clinton campaign to discredit the presidential candidate.

The fanciful account was designed to be used as political mud to be slung during the 2016 presidential campaign, and had to be finished before Election Day, The Hill reports.

Former British spy Christopher Steele (YouTube screen capture/CBS News)

That conclusion is revealed in a written account from Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Kathleen Kavalec’s Oct. 11, 2016, meeting with former MI6 agent Christopher Steele. Steele reportedly acknowledged that his intelligence-gathering mission was nothing more than a political job for the Hillary Clinton election campaign. (RELATED: Investigate Steele Dossier As Russian Disinformation, Intel Experts Say)

The correspondence came to light recently after the conservative activist group Citizens United successfully argued for the documents to be released pursuant to the Freedom Of Information Act. They were delivered in a highly redacted form.

During his testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee, Attorney General William Barr said that he is investigating whether the Steele dossier was a product of a Russian disinformation campaign.

The conversation between Kavalec and Steele and her account of it all happened 10 days before the FBI decided Steele’s research should provide the basis of obtaining a Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) warrant to spy on the Trump campaign, starting with former advisor Carter Page.

Kavalec wrote that Steele’s client, the Clinton campaign, “is keen to see this information come to light prior to November 8,” Election Day in 2016.

Former U.S. President Bill Clinton and Chelsea Clinton listen as U.S. Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton speaks at a campaign rally in Raleigh, North Carolina, U.S. November 8, 2016. REUTERS/Brian Snyder

Former U.S. President Bill Clinton and Chelsea Clinton listen as U.S. Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton speaks at a campaign rally in Raleigh, North Carolina, U.S. Nov. 8, 2016. REUTERS/Brian Snyder

The papers were apparently withheld from the House Intelligence Committee that was conducting an investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election. “They tried to hide a lot of documents from us during our investigation, and it usually turns out there’s a reason for it,” California Republican Devin Nunes told The Hill. (RELATED: Michael Cohen Puts Dagger In The Heart Of Steele Dossier During Congressional Testimony)

Despite the documents being released, the FBI has reportedly backdated the correspondence as classified, despite not being so in 2016, according to The Hill.

“This new information proves why the attorney general must conduct a thorough investigation of the investigators,” David Bossie, director of Citizens United, told The Hill. He suggested the documents prove that the Clinton campaign invented a phony collusion story to destroy Trump.

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