Regardless of what you think about Trump, one thing we know is that Clinton campaign operatives were seeking information about Trump obtained by former British intelligence officer Christopher Steele and that information wound up with the FBI and State Department. But what was Steele's source of information?
"Asked about the Russia and Ukraine memos Steele provided to State, the official tells The Weekly Standard, “We were not aware of his specific sources but assumed that many of them were close to Putin and were peddling information that was useful to the Kremlin.”
The official says the Putinesque spin of the memos led them to take Steele’s analysis with more than a grain of salt: “There was a huge discount factor for that reason.”
This was the reputation Steele had at the upper reaches of State: Among the people who saw his work most frequently and who had the most expertise in Russian issues, the onetime MI6 officer was seen as “peddling information that was useful to the Kremlin.”
Maybe the Clinton campaign wasn't colluding with Russia. Maybe they were just stupid enough to get used by Russian intelligence to peddle disinformation about Trump to sew havoc and discord in in the U.S. during the 2016 campaign and afterwards. If so, Putin and the Russians have succeeded masterfully.
"Asked about the Russia and Ukraine memos Steele provided to State, the official tells The Weekly Standard, “We were not aware of his specific sources but assumed that many of them were close to Putin and were peddling information that was useful to the Kremlin.”
The official says the Putinesque spin of the memos led them to take Steele’s analysis with more than a grain of salt: “There was a huge discount factor for that reason.”
This was the reputation Steele had at the upper reaches of State: Among the people who saw his work most frequently and who had the most expertise in Russian issues, the onetime MI6 officer was seen as “peddling information that was useful to the Kremlin.”
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