Bulletin: A New Original
From RealClearInvestigations

Victoria Nuland Tells All
on Steele Dossier ... Not
New Article by Eric Felten
in RealClearInvestigations

Former Assistant Secretary of State Victoria Nuland has repeatedly downplayed her role in the spread of Christopher Steele's anti-Trump dossier. But long-awaited evidence emerged last week showing Nuland was more involved in the dossier than she has let on.

As Eric Felten reports for RealClearInvestigations, the new evidence is FBI interviews with Bruce Ohr, the Department of Justice's high-ranking intermediary between Steele and the FBI. And those records show that:

• Glenn Simpson, the Democrat-hired opposition researcher behind Steele's dossier, and others "were talking to Victoria Nuland at the U.S. State Department" in 2016, according to Ohr.
• Although Nuland's repeated public denials about involvement with the dossier sounded unequivocal, they didn't cover Simpson.
• Asked under oath before the Senate Intelligence Committee whether she had any role in an October 2016 briefing by Steele at the State Department, Nuland responded: "I did not. I actively chose not to be part of that briefing."
• The records indicating Nuland was dealing with Simpson belie her insistence that she avoided political activities as a career federal employee subject to the Hatch Act.
• The newly released Ohr material also raises these questions about the Trump-Russia role of the State Department, once run by Hillary Clinton: How many times did Nuland listen to Simpson pitch Steele's material? What did she do with the spurious information? Who were the "others" Bruce Ohr said Nuland was talking to about the dossier?
• The records show just how active Simpson was in working his relationship with Ohr - whose wife, Nellie, was on Simpson's Fusion GPS payroll.

The Ohr interviews are mostly redacted, but at some point the shielded material will be disclosed, Felten writes. And the public will learn even more about how Simpson - with the help of powerful officials such as Victoria Nuland and Bruce Ohr - helped to catalyze a national crisis.

This and all other original articles created by RealClearInvestigations may be republished for free with attribution. (These terms do not apply to outside articles linked on the site.)

We provide our stories for free but they are expensive to produce. Help us continue to publish distinctive journalism by making a contribution today to RealClearInvestigations.

Support RealClearInvestigations →