Congressional documents and recently leaked texts between Sen. Mark Warner and a registered foreign agent for a Russian aluminum oligarch indicate that Daniel J. Jones is intimately involved with ongoing efforts to retroactively validate a series of salacious and unverified memos produced by Christopher Steele, a former British intelligence agent, and Fusion GPS. The dossier, which declassified documents show was used as a basis for securing secret wiretaps on Trump campaign affiliates, was reportedly jointly funded by the Democratic National Committee and Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign.
Jones, a former Feinstein staffer who wrote a controversial top-secret report on alleged torture by the Central Intelligence Agency, currently runs the Penn Quarter Group, which bills itself as a "Research and investigative advisory" and is inconspicuously named after the downtown Washington DC neighborhood where its office is located.
The grouping of the names is a story in itself: the first 15 names are those of Fusion GPS's principals and key staff in 2016; the next 12 are connected to Steele and a Russian oligarch sanctioned by the United States, the next two are longtime Clinton hangers-on who reportedly wrote and disseminated their own dossier of unverified allegations; the next three are key Obama-era State Department officials who likely spread allegations about the Trump campaign throughout the government; then Jones; the next six are top Federal Bureau of Investigation or Department of Justice officials who used the dossier to secure secret wiretaps on Trump affiliates; and the final name belongs to Obama's CIA director.
During the course of the interaction between Warner and Waldman, which included encrypted messages, phone calls, and private, in-person meetings, Waldman offered Warner access not just to Steele but also Julian Assange, the founder of WikiLeaks who has been holed up in Ecuador's embassy in London since 2012 and whom Hillary Clinton described as "a tool of Russian intelligence."
Sen. Tom Cotton, who serves on the Senate intelligence committee with Warner and Burr, directly asked FBI Director Christopher Wray during a hearing last week whether Steele ever worked directly for the Russian oligarch Waldman represents.
Jones' apparent involvement in brokering access to Steele raises serious questions not just about Warner's role in the ongoing intelligence committee investigation, but also about Feinstein's role in the judiciary committee's ongoing investigation of Steele, Russian interference, and Fusion GPS. Did Jones, Feinstein's former top intel committee staffer, have any contact with Feinstein on the matter? Was she aware of any potential business relationship between Jones and individuals or organizations such as Fusion GPS being investigated by her committee? If so, did Feinstein ever disclose to the committee the possibility that she may have a significant conflict of interest given Jones's involvement? If not, why not?
Jones's role in pursuing "Vindication of the dossier," in Waldman's words, on Steele's behalf may also explain Grassley and Graham's decision to withhold from Feinstein prior notice of their criminal referral of Steele to the FBI for making false statements about his dossier work to federal agents.
http://thefederalist.com/2018/02/20/is-a-former-feinstein-staffer-running-fusion-gpss-post-election-russia-dossier-operation/
Jones, a former Feinstein staffer who wrote a controversial top-secret report on alleged torture by the Central Intelligence Agency, currently runs the Penn Quarter Group, which bills itself as a "Research and investigative advisory" and is inconspicuously named after the downtown Washington DC neighborhood where its office is located.
The grouping of the names is a story in itself: the first 15 names are those of Fusion GPS's principals and key staff in 2016; the next 12 are connected to Steele and a Russian oligarch sanctioned by the United States, the next two are longtime Clinton hangers-on who reportedly wrote and disseminated their own dossier of unverified allegations; the next three are key Obama-era State Department officials who likely spread allegations about the Trump campaign throughout the government; then Jones; the next six are top Federal Bureau of Investigation or Department of Justice officials who used the dossier to secure secret wiretaps on Trump affiliates; and the final name belongs to Obama's CIA director.
During the course of the interaction between Warner and Waldman, which included encrypted messages, phone calls, and private, in-person meetings, Waldman offered Warner access not just to Steele but also Julian Assange, the founder of WikiLeaks who has been holed up in Ecuador's embassy in London since 2012 and whom Hillary Clinton described as "a tool of Russian intelligence."
Sen. Tom Cotton, who serves on the Senate intelligence committee with Warner and Burr, directly asked FBI Director Christopher Wray during a hearing last week whether Steele ever worked directly for the Russian oligarch Waldman represents.
Jones' apparent involvement in brokering access to Steele raises serious questions not just about Warner's role in the ongoing intelligence committee investigation, but also about Feinstein's role in the judiciary committee's ongoing investigation of Steele, Russian interference, and Fusion GPS. Did Jones, Feinstein's former top intel committee staffer, have any contact with Feinstein on the matter? Was she aware of any potential business relationship between Jones and individuals or organizations such as Fusion GPS being investigated by her committee? If so, did Feinstein ever disclose to the committee the possibility that she may have a significant conflict of interest given Jones's involvement? If not, why not?
Jones's role in pursuing "Vindication of the dossier," in Waldman's words, on Steele's behalf may also explain Grassley and Graham's decision to withhold from Feinstein prior notice of their criminal referral of Steele to the FBI for making false statements about his dossier work to federal agents.
http://thefederalist.com/2018/02/20/is-a-former-feinstein-staffer-running-fusion-gpss-post-election-russia-dossier-operation/
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