Conservative Publication Hired Fusion GPS, the Firm at the Center of a Storm Over Dossier on Trump
WASHINGTON—A research firm that produced a dossier of unverified information about Donald Trump’s ties to Russia was first hired by a conservative publication to conduct research on a number of presidential candidates.
In a joint statement released Friday, the Washington Free Beacon’s chairman and editor in chief acknowledged that the Washington, D.C.-based web publication hired the firm Fusion GPS to conduct opposition research during last year’s presidential campaign. But the publication denied any involvement in anti-Trump research compiled by former British spy Christopher Steele in a 35-page dossier that has become of significant interest to investigators probing Russian activity during the 2016 election.
“Since its launch in February of 2012, the Washington Free Beacon has retained third party firms to conduct research on many individuals and institutions of interest to us and our readers. In that capacity, during the 2016 election cycle we retained Fusion GPS to provide research on multiple candidates in the Republican presidential primary, just as we retained other firms to assist in our research into Hillary Clinton, ” said editor Matthew Continetti and chairman Michael Goldfarb in a statement.
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After the Free Beacon ended its relationship with Fusion, Mrs. Clinton’s presidential campaign and the Democratic National Committee paid for the anti-Trump research through a law firm, according to a letter from the firm filed in federal court. Mr. Steele’s memos begin in June 2016—after the Free Beacon stopped paying the firm and the Clinton campaign began picking up the tab for Fusion GPS’s research.
Brian Fallon, a former spokesman for the Clinton campaign, said this week that he didn’t learn about Mr. Steele or the dossier until after the election, but added: “If I had gotten handed it last fall, I would have had no problem passing it along and urging reporters to look into it.”
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Fusion GPS has repeatedly refused to disclose its clients to congressional investigators. Two partners of the firm refused to testify in front of the House Intelligence Committee this month, citing their constitutional rights. The firm is also fighting a subpoena in federal court for its bank records, arguing that it has an obligation to protect the identity of its clients.
“None of this changes the fact that the intelligence community found a former U.K. intelligence official’s findings so credible that they landed on the president’s desk,” said Josh Levy, an attorney for Fusion GPS.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/conservative-publication-hired-fusion-gps-to-research-trump-other-candidates-1509153787