HYGO News Trump/Russia dossier funded by Hillary's campaign & DNC, new investigation into uranium deal
Trump/Russia dossier funded by Hillary’s campaign & DNC, new investigation into uranium deal
In October 2017, two stories collided that reshaped the Russia investigation narrative. First, it was revealed that Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign and the Democratic National Committee had funded the infamous Trump-Russia dossier compiled by former British spy Christopher Steele. Second, congressional Republicans announced a new investigation into the Obama-era approval of a uranium deal that gave a Russian-backed company control of 20 percent of American uranium supplies.
Trump Responds to the Dossier Revelation
President Trump addressed the dossier funding revelation directly in the video. He declared himself vindicated: “Done with this fake dossier. It was made up. I understand they paid a tremendous amount of money. Hillary Clinton always denied it. The Democrats always denied it. And now only because it’s going to come out in a court case, they said yes, they did it, they admitted it, and they’re embarrassed by it.”
As the video description noted, this was the same “infamous Russian ‘dossier,’ the unverified document that BuzzFeed unceremoniously dumped into the public square earlier this year.” The document had made “a series of incredibly salacious and unproven accusations against the sitting president of the United States.”
Trump then pivoted to what he called the real Russia story: “The uranium scandal and that Russia has 20 percent of a uranium for whatever reason and a lot of people understand what those reasons may be. I think that’s your Russia story. That’s your real Russia story. Not a story where they talk about collusion and there was none. It was a hoax.”
He criticized the media for its coverage priorities: “That is, to me, one of the big stories of the decade. The problem is that the mainstream media does not want to cover that story because that affects people that they protect. And it’s a disgrace that the fake news won’t cover it.”
The Uranium One Investigation
Congressional Republicans announced a formal inquiry into Russia’s involvement in the uranium deal at a press conference captured in the video. The chairman outlined the scope: “What we’re here today to announce is an inquiry into Russia’s involvement into the uranium deal that was done several years ago. Whether or not there was an FBI investigation, was there a DOJ investigation, and if so, why was Congress not informed of this matter?”
They revealed a key witness: “We do have a witness who is a confidential informant who wants to talk about his role in this and we’re in contact with the Justice Department to release him from a nondisclosure agreement. If that doesn’t work out in timely fashion, then we obviously would be able to subpoena him.”
Representative Peter King, who chaired a relevant subcommittee at the time of the deal, described his early warnings: “Back in October 2010, the ranking member on Homeland Security and myself and three other ranking members sent a letter to the Treasury Department raising very, very real concerns about why we would allow a Russian-owned company to get access to 20 percent of America’s uranium supply.”
King revealed that the concerns had reached the highest levels of the Obama administration: “It was brought to the highest levels because I got a letter in response from Treasury Secretary Geithner who was on the CFIUS Committee and saying that this was getting full scrutiny.” He added: “Obviously we want to see what happened to that inquiry, what information was brought to their attention, what they knew then, why they acted or didn’t act.”
The Democratic Counter-Narrative
The video also included the Democratic response. A Democratic leader dismissed the dossier revelation: “I would say it’s the same baloney they’ve been peddling for years and there’s been no, no credible evidence by anyone. In fact, it’s been debunked repeatedly and will continue to be debunked.”
Democrats turned the focus back to the Trump campaign’s Russia contacts, calling it an “assault on our democracy.” One leader declared: “This week we saw cold hard evidence of the Trump campaign, indeed the Trump family, eagerly intending to collude possibly with Russia, a hostile foreign power, to influence American elections.” They called for an outside independent commission, saying: “After these latest revelations, it’s becoming clear we have suffered a desecration of our democracy not seen since Watergate.”
Additional Context from Full Remarks
As The Hill had reported, there were allegations that “Russia engaged in bribery, kickbacks, extortion and money laundering in an effort to purchase 20% of U.S. uranium supplies.” The central question was whether the FBI had known about corruption before the Obama administration approved the deal through the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS).
Trump had called the deal a “modern-age Watergate” and accused Clinton’s State Department of approving “the transfer of 20 percent of America’s uranium holdings to Russia, while nine investors in the deal funneled $145 million to the Clinton Foundation.”
Key Takeaways
- The revelation that Hillary Clinton’s campaign and the DNC funded the Trump-Russia dossier prompted President Trump to declare it a “disgrace” and redirect attention to what he called the real Russia story: the uranium deal.
- Congressional Republicans launched a formal inquiry into the Obama-era Uranium One deal, revealing they had a confidential informant willing to testify and that concerns had been raised to Treasury Secretary Geithner as early as 2010.
- Democrats dismissed the dossier and uranium stories as distractions and continued to press for an independent commission to investigate the Trump campaign’s contacts with Russia.