Briefly Noted: Chris Steele Has Been Interviewed By OIG
According to Politico, Trump dossier author Steele gets 16-hour DOJ grilling , Chris Steele, author of the eponymous "dossier," was interviewed for 16 hours by OIG operatives during President Trump's state visit to the UK. The article by Natasha Bertrand is highly slanted in favor of the Russia Hoax narrative, rehearsing the usual talking points--including the claim that Steele was "not far off" re Carter Page. Sample:
The interview was contentious at first, the sources added, but investigators ultimately found Steele’s testimony credible and even surprising. The takeaway has irked some U.S. officials interviewed as part of the probe — they argue that it shouldn’t have taken a foreign national to convince the inspector general that the FBI acted properly in 2016. Steele’s American lawyer was present for the conversation.
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... Steele has become a villain to Trump allies who claim that anti-Trump DOJ officials conspired to undo the results of the 2016 election. Conservatives have also seized on Mueller’s conclusion that no criminal conspiracy existed between the Trump campaign and the Kremlin as evidence that Steele’s sensational dossier was a fraud.
But the extensive interview with Steele, and the investigators’ sense that he offered new and important information, may dampen expectations among the president’s allies who’ve claimed that Steele’s sensational dossier was used improperly by the bureau to “spy” on the campaign.
I don't buy that for a moment. The notion that the FBI acted "properly" in 2016 is quite simply absurd. So, this otherwise noteworthy event will have to remain "briefly noted" until we get further information.