The authors Simpson and Fritsch are two former Wall Street Journal reporters who own the Washington-based research firm Fusion GPS. In May of 2016 they hired Christopher Steele, a former British intelligence office, to answer questions about the nature of Trump's relationship with Russia and Putin. The contents of Steele's memoranda, and the fact that Obama and Trump were briefed about them, was leaked to the press in early January 2017 which was shortly before the inauguration. Simpson and The authors Simpson and Fritsch are two former Wall Street Journal reporters who own the Washington-based research firm Fusion GPS. In May of 2016 they hired Christopher Steele, a former British intelligence office, to answer questions about the nature of Trump's relationship with Russia and Putin. The contents of Steele's memoranda, and the fact that Obama and Trump were briefed about them, was leaked to the press in early January 2017 which was shortly before the inauguration. Simpson and Fritsch then realized that the intelligence community thought the research was credible if they had briefed it to the president. The possible consequences of Trump’s unchecked friendliness toward Putin included the lifting of sanctions on Russia, the weakening or even demise of NATO, the spread of Russian-style corruption and kleptocracy to the West, and, more immediately for Fusion, the threat of retaliation from an incoming regime eager to even the score against its critics and whistleblowers.Fusion GPS was originally hired by Trump's Republican primary opponents in late 2015. Initially Trump was not being investigated for his Russian ties but rather for hypocrisies and lies surrounding his businesses, his wealth (or lack thereof), and his positions on issues. For example, although Trump has backed a xenophobic view on immigration, he has often employed illegal immigrant labor in his businesses and recruited immigrants from abroad.Trump Organization had sponsored at least 1,494 foreign worker visas since 2000. His Palm Beach estate and private club, Mar-a-Lago, was the largest of his properties to import immigrant labor, with at least 872 visas to its name.One of the most interesting elements of this book involves reporting on Trump's connections to organized crime that hasn't gotten much attention, e.g. his connection to Felix Sater, a Russian-born crime figure who had a business card stating he was a “senior advisor to Donald J. Trump.”During the entire span of his career, Donald Trump has done business with at least 25 individuals and companies with documented mob ties, including various powerful Italian and Russian syndicates.Fusion GPS did not approach the Democrats with their research until March of 2016, when it appeared that Trump had secured the Republican nomination. At this point Fusion offered its research to a DNC-connected law firm who agreed to contract its services. Fusion then contracted with Steele independently for an investigation into Trump's Russia connections. Steele was so alarmed by what he had found that he asked for, and was given permission by Fusion, to give his findings to the FBI. Through the next several months, Fusion gave background briefings to news organizations about its research but did not give any of them a copy of the dossier. After the election, Steele gave a copy of the dossier memos to the UK intelligence chief and MI5 arranged for him to also give a copy to Senator John McCain via his aide David Kramer. Despite his promise to give the dossier only to Senator McCain, Kramer later leaked the dossier to the press and it emerged into the public sphere.“The allegations were disturbing, but I had no idea which if any were true,” McCain later wrote. “I could not independently verify any of it, and so I did what any American who cares about our nation’s security should have done. I put the dossier in my office safe, called the office of the director of the FBI, Jim Comey, and asked for a meeting.” McCain’s friend and colleague Lindsey Graham later admitted that he had encouraged McCain to turn the dossier over to the FBI. Months later Graham would feign outrage over the dossier during congressional hearings.This is a well-written, informative, and fascinating account of Fusion's research into Trump's character and background. There are a lot of details about the investigation that make much more sense when put into context as this book does. The Steele dossier will probably go down in history for its significance in the Trump-Russia investigation. One other important takeaway is that the press failed to properly report the Trump-Russia story before the 2016 election despite having it dropped in their laps. As a result, Putin was allowed to put his puppet in the White House. To deny that Russia intervened in the 2016 election with the express purpose of helping Trump win—given all the evidence presented by Mueller and the Intelligence Community—requires a staggering degree of willful blindness. Worse, however, is to support that position with silence.There have been many books written about the Trump-Russia connection and this is one of the better ones. The writing is clean and straightforward resulting in a tight professional narrative. You won't be wasting your time reading this. Highly recommended.
more
