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<\/a>(Photo by Mark Wilson\/Getty Images)<\/p><\/div><\/p>\n
Peter Hasson \u00a0| \u00a0The Daily Caller<\/p>\n
The\u00a0opposition research firm behind the infamous Trump dossier, Fusion GPS, worked with\u00a0several prominent media outlets to spread dirt on President Trump\u2019s alleged ties to Russia. Those same media outlets, which have enthusiastically pounced on every new detail regarding the Russia investigation, have been\u00a0oddly disinterested in probing into the crucial role of Fusion GPS.<\/p>\n
The British spy Fusion GPS hired to craft the dossier, Christopher\u00a0Steele, leaned on anonymous Russian sources in\u00a0crafting the dossier for Fusion GPS. Steele\u2019s lawyers revealed in court filings\u00a0that, in September 2016, Steele briefed reporters from The New York Times, The Washington Post, Yahoo! News, The New Yorker and CNN on behalf of Fusion GPS. Steele later held another meeting with reporters from the NYT, WaPo and Yahoo. The lawyers said that Fusion GPS attended these meetings with reporters and Steele,\u00a0as TheDC\u2019s Chuck Ross pointed out<\/a>.<\/p>\n Fusion GPS, which is headed up by former Wall Street Journal reporter Glenn Simpson, was working for a Democratic ally of Hillary Clinton at that time, although that ally\u2019s name is not publicly known.<\/p>\n Those same media outlets that\u00a0worked with Fusion GPS to receive information on the Republican nominee now appear to be helping Fusion GPS stay\u00a0out of the public spotlight.\u00a0(RELATED:\u00a0Fusion GPS\u00a0Was Also A Hired Gun For Planned Parenthood)<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n A British-American businessman previously targeted by Fusion GPS, Bill Browder,\u00a0testified<\/a>\u00a0before the\u00a0Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday that \u201cin the Spring and Summer of 2016 they [Fusion GPS] were receiving money indirectly from a senior Russian government official\u201d for their\u00a0work to undermine the Magnitsky Act, a human rights law fiercely opposed by Putin that sanctions Russian criminals. At the same time that Fusion GPS was crafting the dossier allegedly exposing\u00a0the Trump campaign\u2019s collusion with the Russian government, they were also working to advance Russian interests, according to Browder\u2019s testimony.<\/p>\n Browder told the committee that Natalia Veselnitskaya, the same Russian lawyer who met with Donald Trump Jr., Jared Kushner and Paul Manafort at Trump Tower during the campaign, \u201chired Glenn Simpson of the firm Fusion GPS to conduct a smear campaign against me and Sergei Magnitsky in advance of congressional hearings on the Global Magnitsky Act.\u201d The law is named for Sergei Magnitsky, a lawyer who represented Browder before Russian authorities jailed and killed him after he exposed a massive fraud scheme.<\/p>\n Wall Street Journal columnist Kimberly Strassel argued that Browder\u2019s testimony raises the question of whether Russian operatives\u00a0could have purposefully misled Steele into publishing false allegations of\u00a0Trump\u2019s Russia ties for the purpose of sowing discord into American politics.\u00a0(RELATED:\u00a0Oppo Researcher Behind Trump Dossier Is Linked To Pro-Kremlin Lobbying Effort)<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cIf the Russian intention was to sow chaos in the American political system, few things could have been more effective than that dossier, which ramped up an FBI investigation and sparked congressional probes and a special counsel, deeply wounding the president,\u201d\u00a0Strassel wrote<\/a>. \u201cThis is all to Mr. Putin\u2019s benefit, and the question is whether Russia engineered it.\u201d<\/p>\n Strassel is one of the few establishment media sources willing to ask hard questions about Simpson and Fusion GPS.<\/p>\n The NYT, WaPo and CNN have all appeared disinterested in digging into\u00a0Fusion GPS\u2019 shady ties. The three outlets have combined for zero articles mentioning Fusion GPS since Browder\u2019s testimony, despite the explosive allegations contained within it.\u00a0(RELATED:\u00a0Grassley Blasts Dems For Blocking Hearing On Trump Dossier)<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n The only mention of Fusion GPS on CNN after Browder\u2019s testimony on Thursday (and in the days since) came from Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham, who went out of his way\u00a0in an interview<\/a>\u00a0Thursday morning to stress the seriousness of the matter, despite CNN asking zero questions about Fusion GPS.<\/p>\n \u201cFusion GPS was on the payroll, apparently, according to this guy of the Russian government. And I want to know what they did in terms of trying to compromise Donald Trump, who is now our president. So what should we learn from all of this? That the Russians were involved on both sides, they definitely tried to tip the scale against Clinton and for Trump. But the Fusion GPS organization that was trying to get the goods on Donald Trump was backed by the Russians,\u201d Graham said.<\/p>\n CNN reporter Manu Raju tried to steer Graham back to talking about Trump, asking a question about Donald Trump Jr., but Graham returned to the subject to emphasize just how grave he believed the Fusion GPS situation to be.<\/p>\n \u201cThe GPS, Fusion GPS situation, the guy\u2019s not coming. If we have to subpoena the people at Fusion GPS, we need to subpoena them. Because Mr. Browder has now accused them of \u2014 working for the Russians,\u201d Graham said. \u201cAnd at the end of the day, if that\u2019s true, the Democratic Party is working with somebody who was working with the Russians, whether they knew it or not.\u201d<\/p>\n CNN\u2019s next question changed the topic to Attorney General Jeff Sessions.<\/p>\n