The dossier explained ~~~Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and Chuck Grassley (R-IA) stunningly made the first criminal referral on Friday since the congressional investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay They called for charges not against anyone involved in the underlying crimes committed, but against Christopher Steele, a former British intelligence officer who worked during the 2016 campaign cycle on compiling a dossier on the alleged existence of a conspiracy between Donald Trump and the Russian government. This brings the Steele dossier – yes, this is the document that alleges the existence of a “pee tape” that the Russians may have used to blackmail Trump – to a strange place. Its origins, based on the liberal hope of unmasking a massive conspiracy that would bring down Trump, have led to its current status as the center of a conservative conspiracy theory that should bring down Robert Mueller. The allegations contained in the dossier played essentially no role in either the GOP or the Republican Party. primaries or the general election, and, contrary to the dueling myths of conspiracy theorists on the left and right, it is not true that subsequent investigations have confirmed the dossier's claims or that the Trump investigation is based primarily on those claims. It's an ephemera whose waxing and waning reputation and varied political valence say more than anything about Trump's and Russia's political shifts. Fusion GPS hired Christopher Steele to investigate Trump. Fusion GPS, the company that created the dossier, was co-founded in 2011 by Glenn Simpson, Peter Fritsch and Thomas Catan, three former Wall Street Journal journalists who were part of a larger 21st-century trend of seasoned reporters who adapt to the changing economic climate by abandoning the field in favor of various forms of "strategic intelligence" or paid search. The company's extremely concise website describes the company simply as providing "premium research, strategic intelligence and due diligence to corporations, law firms and investors around the world." Being a Washington-based company, some of their work has been political. A 2012 Wall Street Journal editorial revealed that Fusion GPS worked for Democrats doing opposition research on Mitt Romney. According to Free Beacon editor Matthew Continetti and president Michael Goldfarb, the firm had been busy at the start of the 2016 cycle “providing research on multiple candidates in the Republican presidential primaries.” Subsequently, in April 2016, Marc Elias, a leading Democratic campaign lawyer, hired Fusion GPS through his firm Perkins Coie on behalf of both Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign and the Democratic National Committee. Perkins Coie, at Elias's behest and with bills ultimately paid by Clinton and the DNC, continued to fund Fusion's work through late October 2016, though those involved say neither the campaign nor the DNC were aware details of the Fusion job. Fusion, in turn, subcontracted Christopher Steele, a retired MI-6 officer with considerable experience on Russian matters, to use his contacts in Moscow to find out what he could about Trump's connections to the Russian government. That work led to the compilation of Steele's dossier, written in the style of an intelligence report and based on anonymous sources, which contained a series of serious allegations against Trump. Please note: this is just an example. Get a custom paper from our expert writers now. Get an essay 31.
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