Thank you for doing the job that you do. The NYT is big part of a functioning democracy and I for one appreciate it.
9
The Democrats paid money to Fusion GPS which had Steele go to Russia and gather all the dirt he could on Trump. He returned with a pack of disinformation crested by Putin. The Dossier is prima facie proof of conspiracy and collusion between the DNC and Russia. Hopefully Mueller will indict the DNC officials responsible. Meanwhile there is no evidence of any collusion between Russia and the Trump campaign.
BuzzFeed is free of course to publish any smears it wants to, but it should just admit to being devoid of journalistic integrity.
3
Bravo- Mr. Smith. History will judge your work favorably. You have done a great service for our nation. We have elected a clueless con man pathological liar child bully as our President. His election was possible by Vladimir’s help, populist rhetorics, division and fear mongering. The incompetent man is destroying everything we the citizens need for our survival- the air we breathe, water we drink, job and education we need. He survives by telling at least 5 lies everyday and often they are contradictory as you can expect from a certified con man. He manipulated some voters by claiming to drain the swamp. Unfortunately, he filled the cabinet with swamp and majority of them are incompetent. Of course no qualified person with right mind will work for the maniac. Mr. Smith- keep up the great work and expose the con man and his dynasty so that people know the true color of them.
8
I’ll bet the ranch it’s “the money “ that the Russians are holding over Trump’s head. That’s the bottom line. Plain and simple.
10
Trump is unqualified to be president and an embarrassment to our country, but the entire Russia effort is very likely to be a huge waste of our time an resources. There are so many more important things that demand our time and resources. This is what happens in when we have the leadership vacuum that Obama and Trump have given us. I can only hope one of the Parties wakes up before 2020 - I don't care which.
Ben Smith concludes this fine piece by saying, " I haven’t had a single person approach me to say,..I wish I had less insight into the forces at play in America.” Do you feel that way? Does anyone?"
Well, apparently Trump attorney Michael Cohen wishes it weren't published because Tuesday he filed filed a defamation action against BuzzFeed for publishing a 35-page dossier.
Guess he didn't want the story out there, because it mentioned him. So sue the publisher for sharing information that has been in circulation for months. Good lawyering. No wonder his client Donald Trump thinks US libel laws a "sham" if this is the kind of legal advice he is getting.
5
Thank goodness for Senator Feinstein’s courage in releasing the transcripts!! Republicans are beginning to look like obstructionists and the President’s personal guard posse; they represent the cowards of America, as elucidated by Shakespeare: “A coward dies a thousand time before his death...”.
11
I thought of Buzzfeed as simply entertainment reporting until I watched the documentary on Gypsy Blanchard and became aware of your excellent reporting. In times like these the brave need to stand up to the brazen and I am proud of your publication.
5
The fact that it was Steele, a British citizen, who alerted the FBI to what he was uncovering on behalf of private clients, shows him to care more about American rule of law and its integrity as a great nation than the current crop of Republicans, who are doing everything they can to undermine what this 'dossier' uncovered. When he got hired to do the job, by the Republican Party, no less, before the Democrats decided they wanted it continued, Steele never expected it to threaten his life and livelihood. For all his good intentions to set aside professional gain in order to do the decent and right thing by a close ally of Britain, he has certainly paid a price, now and probably for the rest of his life. When all is said and done, I think he deserves a medal.
13
The dossier was nonsense from the start, there was no Russian collusion on the Trump campaign. So we have a Mueller special counsel investigation with a license to look into anything else they can try and find. When the Clinton campaign actually DID collude with the Russians. Modern day news is a bunch of smoke and mirrors, it's a propaganda machine.
3
You should rightfully be proud, Mr. Mueller. Thank you. Maybe it is the beginning of the end of this bizarre, unbelievable, destructive circus what goes as our current Administration. Even Nixon seems almost like an angel.
Ken Starr had a lot less as he drifted for months. Yet he brought about an impeachment.This dossier seems to be a treasure trove, a pandora's box. The ugliness, deceit and conspiracies keep erupting out with no end in sight. . This treacherous web of the rich and the powerful seems to have colluded against our very Constitution, compromising our Democracy. These dangerous, unscrupulous shenanigans have to be exposed and driven into oblivion. These are not Americans who are patriotic. These are just criminals and therefore do not deserve any mercy.
4
Eight years of vicious nit-picking the Obama administration, some of which was deserved but much of which was deliberately and transparently inflammatory.... Poor Mr. Trump! Poor Trump team! Did they really not expect this?
The point of a free press is a backstop preventing totalitarianism and potential abuses of power by government. It's the fourth wall of checks and balances which is why China and Russia don't allow their press any real freedoms. It was not by mistake that the Founding Fathers put it first in the Bill of Rights, and the Times did it's job responsibly by publishing the dossier.
5
Dianne Feinstein is an American hero.
8
Is this the "Golden Showers" dossier?
Then you should be ashamed Mr. Smith, you have played just as much a part in the cheapening and coarsening of our politics as Trump. And that is no mean feat!
2
Smith: "... news organizations routinely publish raw court documents underlying their articles."
That's fake news in itself. "Court documents" are usually public records that are written by lawyers or judges, or they are transcripts of trial proceedings. There is nothing "raw" about them. Indeed, there is no such thing as a "raw" document.
What Smith seems to mean is that without his culinary guidance, the public would be misled by "raw" documents. In fact it is just the opposite. The news media are the ones who mislead the public with their "cooked" stories and anonymous sources.
2018-01-10 20:07:15 UTC
We should all be furious that Comey chose to announce reopening of the HRC investigation days before the election but held back on mentioning the FBI was looking into serious allegations of trumps collusion with Russia to rig the US election. Comey, the entire GOP in DC and that thing in the WH should be tried, lined up and...well, you get it.
4
Isn't this the same person who claimed Trump and some Russian prostitutes were prancing around on the bed that Obama slept in? The accusation is absurd. Didn't he also claimed one of Trumps group was in Moscow when the persons's passport clearly showed he was no where near Moscow. I wonder how much money Mueller spent investigating a beauty pageant that occured 3-4 years ago and has nothing to do with collusion. Must of this dossier is nothing but gossip but that gosip was commissioned by Hillary's team. Not one word of gossip or salacious innuendo about Hillary came from Trumps campaign. Trump didn't need that or Russian help. He had Hillary to help him get elected.
2
Thank you, NYT, for publishing the "Dosier". Apparently, you feel that your readership is bright enough to evaluate what you publish, then form opinions about the material.
4
If it looks like a rat, smells like a rat, and acts like a rat, it ain't no mouse!
5
The naysayers were so virulent because they knew what was coming. The rest of us are like does in the forest hoping not to be shot down or hit by a golf cart.
3
The objection was that the contents of the dossier were "unverified." But the fact is that the media - and I'm talking about the serious, grown-up media, not Breitbart et al. - publish unverified allegations all the time.
One example, as the author notes, is when the media publish allegations made in lawsuits. But it's way more than just that. Almost every time the media quote from a press release, or statement, or report, they are publishing allegations they have not verified. When women accused Roy Moore of molestation, the media published the "unverified" accusations. When James Comey gave his version of what happened at his one-on-one with President Trump, the media published his "unverified" statements.
Some allegations are newsworthy in themselves, and they should be published. Did the New York Times verify every single sentence of the entire Pentagon Papers before publishing?
What distinguishes the serious media from the others is that the serious media gives all sides the opportunity to respond to unverified allegations. But let's be clear - that just means that we have multiple "unverified" statements.
Maybe there are other reasons that BuzzFeed shouldn't have published some or all of the dossier. But the fact that the dossier contents were "unverified," by itself, was simply not a legitimate reason not to publish them.
politicsbyeccehomo.wordpress.com
3
Wow. I was expecting something truly damaging to Trump here. The only things so far corroborated are: Manafort's hiding of payments from the Ukraine (Russia's adversary here, of course.... and Manafort probably worked with the Clinton's much more than with Trump), the sudden withdrawal of a Russian diplomat (how does this incriminate Trump?), and, I guess, the Papadopolous drunken wine bar exchanges. Pretty paltry.... so far. If this is it, how is it not irresponsible to publish unfounded accusations that would be FAR more damaging than the subset of accusations actually supported by solid evidence? So what's a fair ratio percentage for substantiated/unsubstantiated claims for elected officials in office? In this case that includes prostitution (and I saw some reference to "water games"), so there seems to be even a QUALITATIVE difference between the unfounded and founded claims. The history/money trail behind this questionable "research" only adds to the degree of Buzzfeed's irresponsibility.
3
@carl bumba
I guess you're not a lawyer, or you haven't been following closely enough to understand the implications of the bits this op-ed chose to highlight. This op-ed is not the dossier, it's simply defending why Buzzfeed chose to publish it. And if the Clinton's had anything to do with Manafort...trust me, you'd have heard about it long, long, LONG, ago!
6
It had to be done. Donald Trump threatens our democracy. He invited Russia to hack his political opponent's emails and cheered Wikileaks at least 164 times.
He's embraced dictators and despots, maligned judges, the FBI, and the news media. Using his social media account, he lies chronically, transmits continual propaganda and remains catastrophically unfit.
He has no intention of stopping Russian hacking of America's elections. As author George Orwell said, “Power is not a means; it is an end. One does not establish a dictatorship in order to safeguard a revolution; one makes the revolution in order to establish the dictatorship."
5
Publishing documents from Russia has a long and distinguished history. When the Bolsheviks took over, they published the secret parts of numerous treaties, and that proved the monstrous duplicity and criminality of Britain, France, Germany and Austria in a war that was at that moment snuffing out something like 20,000,000 lives.
Th Bolsheviks were condemned by the guilty.
So history repeats, and, as Santayana observes, first as tragedy, then as farce.
No honest person has any reason to deplore the publication of the Steele report.
7
Nobody, except me, is perfect. The 4th estate is loaded with warts but is still the best dermatologist we have.
1
Since it is apparent that the Republicans controlling Congress are not going to do their duty by either conduction a truthful, thorough, non-partisan investigation to find out what really happened nor to hold Trump accountable, it is imperative that the media give the American people as much information as possible. We need the power to take action ourselves based on all of the facts. The Russians have perpetrated an act of war by infringing upon our rights as Americans to run fair elections with confidence in their outcomes. If our elected government is not going to protect us, we must protect ourselves by voting out those committing this treason. I applaud BuzzFeed for its courage and hope it takes similar action whenever necessary.
7
kudos to Diane Feinstein for releasing them. And thank you for releasing. This was not classified material and should have been release a while ago.
Donald talks about deep state -- the GOP is the deep state
5
The assertion that the dossier has been central to allegations against Trump is what undoubtedly makes it newsworthy. However, the fact that only a few facts in the dossier have been tangentially confirmed is also its Achilles Heel. Publication of the largely unsubstantiated dossier could have been avoided without diluting the hard hitting reporting on the Russian efforts to undermine American electoral process. In hindsight it seems that publishing of the dossier has only helped Trump and his associates in distracting the probes.
It's really all been said by the many who replied, but to reiterate: This IS NO PARTISAN GAME. Some of us don't look at everything through a partisan lens. Some of us read NYT, WSJ, The Atlantic, NBC, CBS, ABC, etc. and draw educated conclusions. No independent thinker would conclude that this is democratic propaganda. This is about the functioning of democracy. You can say that it's FAKE, but that doesn't make it so.
17
" But year of government inquiries....... has made clear that the dossier is unquestionably real news". Perhaps to some who are engaged in wishful thinking. However, the fact remains that even the author, former spy Steele, admits many of his 'facts' are single source and/or unverified. Real news, all of it? I think I'll wait a bit more to pass judgment.
5
Single source? The man worked the Russia desk at MI6 for 30 years and his sources were not just a single person.
2
“One large portion of the dossier is crystal-clear, certain, consistent and corroborated,” a C.I.A. veteran, John Sipher, wrote recently. “Russia’s goal all along has been to do damage to America and our leadership role in the world.” Many of us are sitting back waiting to find out who is being played.
6
Proud? Certainly; let's not lose track of the fact that as the paper of record, it is your right, and more importantly obligation to publish such critically important information. Bullying, intimidation and personal attacks cannot and should not prevent the NYT from doing what it is supposed. Have said that, great job!
6
TS. Democracy cannot survive without free and open journalism, as insisted upon out in the Constitution.
6
If I were a Trump Attorney I would quit him and save what is left of my career. Good luck
11
I think that Democrats and the US-media should rather try to explain why and how such a man like Trump could possibly have been elected president of the United States by the American people. And Democrats should reexamine their own political agenda and their leaders, and they should concentrate on a convincing and truly democratic alternative to Trump. Blaming it all on Russia has so far not been very convincing and may even backfire if they can not come up with some very hard evidence for the alleged Russian interference in the last election. Billionaire Rebekah Mercer probably contributed more to a Trump victory than some cheap Russian bots.
3
Trump won the Republican nomination because the absurd multiple candidate debate format permits the least qualified candidates to gang up on the most qualified candidates.
Vladimir Putin's support cost Trump votes in the general election because Hillary Clinton made it an effective talking point in her campaign speeches and in the head-to-head candidate debates, but Trump won the lection because voters in swing states brought into his "America First" agenda.
3
If it's all fake news, as the FOX propaganda channel keeps saying, why does Trump keep trying to block the investigation? Why has he always defended Putin from even the allegations? Why does he hide his taxes? The list goes on....
16
What I find somewhat disturbing, and more than opportunistic, is the "cold-call" I received last evening from Dianne Feinstein's Committee to re-elect. It was timed within minutes of the 6:00 news programs.
1
Thanks Ben Smith and Buzzfeed I am glad that it got published instead of hidden from the citizens. We have a right to know. Since Buzzfeed said it was unsubstantiated I don't see how it was libelous. If Michael Cohen wants to file a libel suit maybe this can open the case up to more and better scrutiny than Congress has.
9
Is there a comic-book somewhere that explains the entire Trump-Russia relations in intelligible form?
4
The whole process of accessing the content of "the dossier", the release of the entire document to the public by Senator Diane Feinstein, and the carefully articulated information given by most of our press (printed, visual and audio) has once again reminded me that without trustworthy information, the American people are incapable of functioning in a true democracy. Being informed by a credible, reliable, and open press (must be important, as it's covered in the First Amendment of the United States Constitution!), I will go so far as to say: an open press is the primary reason that the United States of America is still the leading nation of the world. I'm very grateful to all of the fine journalists in this country who uphold such a sacred trust through the work they do in their profession.
8
o.k.
So if the press is forthcoming in providing the "report" but the "report" is full of hearsay and riddled with falsehoods then what? So you have full disclosure of what? Something that is 70% true and verifiable.
"Sacred trust"
Give me a break
1
The ability to analyse data, process information is getting lost among vast majority of Americans- as it's public education is failing and quality of higher education is in decline for long- that too accessible mainly to rich and powerful people who can buy degrees (read, skill set) but do not have the basic sense of right and wrong to know how to use the skill set they acquired in universities.
America is the most religious country among developed countries, America is the second worst (only after Turkey- in percentage of population) among major industrialized countries where people believe in fiction of 'intelligent design" or creationism and not the science of evolution. Such behavior among a large section of American voters helped Trump, who nicely exploiting the angry, frustrated Americans (yes, they have some justified reasons too) who do not have much ability to identify the causes of their misery and barking at the wrong trees while supporting a liar, cheat and opportunist person who has no ethics or morality.
8
It is Mr. Trump's own conduct that seems to verify the allegations in the dossier. The allegations seemed beyond belief, before we read his executive tweets and witnessed his unstable, self-centered, and haphazard attempts at governance.
11
The most serious allegation in the Russian Dossier regarding Trump or the Trump campaign is that Russia released hacked DNC email to WikiLeaks with the “full knowledge and support” of the Trump campaign. In return, the dossier alleges the Trump campaign “agreed to sideline Russian intervention in Ukraine as a campaign issue and to raise US/NATO defense commitments to the Baltic and Eastern Europe to deflect attention away from Ukraine, a priority for PUTIN who needed to cauterize the subject.” However, Julian Assange has offered to present proof that WikiLeaks did not get the DNC email from Russia in exchange for the same type of immunity provided to news media outlets when they publish stolen documents. The Justice Department should take Assange up on his offer. If Assange’s evidence proves convincing, the remainder of the dossier that applies to the 2016 election can be disregarded. It present sufficient reasons why Americans should have not vote for Trump, but no evidence of unlawful collusion. There is no doubt Russia attempted to influence the 2016 election, and there is reason to believe the Trump campaign welcomed Moscow’s support, but that’s not illegal
4
TS. Journalists are the backbone of our country and our savior. They speak. If you don't like what they say don't believe it. If you do fine too. But thank God we have a choice and we have that choice only because America is not a dictatorship.
7
Those crying about political enemies funding an effort to get negative information about them is pathetic. You dont want the criticism, dont get into the ring, and most importantly, dont behave improperly, or at least not so stupidly. So sick and tired of these wannabe tyrant Republicans throwing mud at the institutions that have kept this country strong and stable for so many years. I hope we all remember where we need to be next November for the mid-term elections. More and more I am seeing those elections as existential to this great nation having a functional Democracy still.
5
All I have to say is, thank you.
11
Given Trump’s obsequious pandering to Putin, it seems self-evident that the Russians are holding something over him.
Money or sex? Whether it’s one or the other or both hardly matters.
His presidency is now thoroughly tainted - even if he finishes his four year term, it will be in disgrace.
14
"NBC’s Chuck Todd told me on air, “You just published fake news.” Mr. Trump agreed."
Chuck Todd is a pathetic embarrassment to journalism, a pitiful shame made worse 'cause he replaced a shining light of journalistic inquiry.
9
I agree with your assessment of Chuck Todd. During the 2016 presidential primaries, Todd told his TV show audience that republicans had a "Deep Bench". And now we have a Trump administration and GOP-controlled congress mired in a swamp of their making. So much for Todd’s astute political foresight.
5
Fake news? Or simply incompetence? Take your pick. And Diane, you've lost the plot.
3
If it wasn't for the fact that Fox News has been, since its inception, the the GOP's "state-run tv," the jibes and fact-free critiques coming from the right-wing media gasbags would be laughable. Well, they are if you managed to hang on to your critical-thinking skills after leaving school. The concept of a Republican PR machine with the power of Hitler's controlled media erupted in the Nixon Oval Office, which tells you how long Fox was marinating before its launch in the early 1990s.
As for the Steele dossier itsellf, the Doubting-Thomas argument could come from both sides of the aisle were it not for the utter craziness, and the nutty people, padding around the White House as "staffers," and a First Family, born on third base, with virtually no prior interest, let alone expertise, in virtually any skill required to be a positive contributor to presidential policy.
But, with a business fraud/master of marital infidelity/and, self-annointed sexual predator, for a POTUS role model, ... well, "birds of a feather ..."
The Steele Dossier's credibility mounts with each passing month thanks to a White House resembling a hospital for the criminally insane.
The louder DT's advisors and apologists protest the Steele Dossier, clearly there is a lot more "there" there and that has Trump's legal team sick and nervous.
Little wonder Republican inmates are leaving the Congressional asylum they helped to create while leaving that mess for someone else to clean up. 'Sound familiar?
13
Trump comes from a background of privelige and has subverted his financial power to his own ends and is now attempting that combined with his political power. . He is a mentally sick man. He just reminds me of Hitler. Instead of uniting the country, he is dividing it like no President before.
6
Thank you for publishing the dossier as it opened a window into an incredible penetration of the U.S by the Soviets. The dossier helps to put in perspective the peculiar behavior of some of our high officials toward the Russian officials: instead of regarding the Russians with wariness, they are seen as confidants. Also, we need to thank our intelligence community for their work in uncovering the intrusive conduct toward our election and coming out publicly to warn us all of the threat to our democracy.
13
Despite all the grief, it was the right thing to do to release the dossier. How were we to know otherwise? And still so many questions remain unanswered. Without more brave acts from people like Senator Feinstein and the free press, President Trump and his allies will continue to hide the truth in any way they can.
14
Republican leaders keep playing the same old partisan game where anything goes so long as you get away with it. Grassley, Graham, Nunez, etc may think they're immune from the consequences of blatantly supporting party over country, but many more citizens are now paying attention and planning to vote. It's unlikely these guys will see challenges from their right, but the campaign ads are writing themselves for their next Democratic challengers. It will mark the first time 'treasonous' is justifiably used against a major political party.
16
Pre-internet, gate-keeper journalism was viable. The established news organizations were nearly identical in content and presentation. The editors and publishers were the brahmins, determining in their wisdom what was fit to print. Broadcast journalism just followed the print media, adding visuals, interviews, etc. The Internet disrupted this model. Thanks to sites like Buzzfeed, we can access original sources. However, the Web sites will never establish sources in powerful circles to the degree of the NYT, BBC, LA Times, The Guardian, and certain others have. In fact, it's extremely disappointing that sites such as Salon, Slate, Huffington Post, Daily Beast and others simply recycle stories that have appeared in print media. The Brave New World is reverting to the form of the Boring Old World. Journalism for hire may be the new model. In which case, we're probably at the mercy of plutocrats.
2
Weird justification for publishing it. And if for all the reasons he cites it was justified, then it should have been put in context, the motivations of the author should have been put under much more scrutiny. The net effect has been to play into Trumps hands, and give him ammo in his war on truth.
Ben Smith and BuzzFeed made the right call and did the right thing. There were plenty of caveats about it being a raw document and that it was uncorroborated. However, it was news. This dossier was circulating among lawmakers, law enforcement, the press and very important people. Its existence was reported. The argument that it should not then be published is absurd. What would be the possible justification - that only privileged powerful people were justified in seeing it?
BuzzFeed played an important role here. The NYT or Washington Post, or NBC, CBS or ABC were reticent. BuzzFeed was the right player, in the right place, at the right time. I, for one, wanted to see it, and am glad I saw it.
7
Once proven guilty, trump and anyone on his command that has knowingly abided with this plot to destroy our national unity and the foundation that WE the voters helped to build, should be put in prison for life.
7
Remember that we value the presumption of innocence.
It won't be Trump's relationship with the Russians that will end up being the big story, but rather how deep the deep state that wanted to impeach a then candidate and now sitting President really goes.
From Fusion GPS who is a politically activated front group for making up dirt, to the DNC who funded the effort, to the reporters who died trying to report the frauds, to the highest rungs of the Executive agencies that wielded their power to promote such fraud, to politicians like McCain who took an active role in making the dossier "known", this entire investigation will eventually point to an entrenched, corrupt deep state that is a thousand times worse than Watergate could have ever been imagined...And as young high schooler at the time, I can remember spending much of that summer in front of the television listening to the interrogations and trying to filter the truth from the lies. And then came John Dean, and all became clear. Who will be John Dean this time around? You know he or she is out there with the lies they're living just festering at the core of their soul(s).
2
I guess you forgot, Dan, that GPS was first contracted by the R's for dirt on candidate Trump.
8
Oh, Ben. What a misguided article aimed entirely at bettering your reputation. What we needed, as a nation, was not just the release of the document but a focused discussion of what it means/meant. Journalism is not about sharing information, but also interpreting ramifications. BuzzFeed is no better than WikiLeaks if it won't do that. So, because you didn't bring the reader in contact with an intellectual discussion on meaning, the intended effects were (sadly) blunted and Trump is our President.
1
BuzzFeed did not editorialize about the dossier, and I'm grateful for that. They published it (after the election, by the way) because they figured citizens like me wanted to know what this "document everybody high up in government is reading" was. Sometimes, that's all you can and ought to do as a journalist--let people read the thing for themselves.
1
Thank you. You should be proud.
My only beef is that I can't google and read the dossier. I'll try harder.
All Americans should have had access to it BEFORE the election.
6
There is no reason the report by Mr. Steele should not have been released within its context. Senator Finestein's courage to release the GPS testimony gave yet another, fuller context for the report. After Mr. Mueller finishes his investigation and prosecutions, we will have the full context of the Steele report and one imagines that the full disclosure of what the Russians did , with whom and when they did it will be visible. It now seems inevitable.
7
So Mr. Smith is proud that he published unverified negative information from Russian officials to the Clinton campaign that the Trump campaign was trying to get negative information from Russian officials about the Clinton campaign.
We can all be proud.
1
You do know that republicans hired fusion first right?
1
https://www.buzzfeed.com/kenbensinger/these-reports-allege-trump-has-dee...
Read it be skeptical.
Even with a fair amount of skepticism, I think evev the most ardent Trump supporter will have to admit there was something very wrong with Trump campaign and there is something wrong in Trump administration.
9
Unfortunately, I think you are mistaken. This will do nothing to sway their obsessive adoration of Trump. It is all made up, all fake news....it is scary. Really really scary.
4
I don't blame the many posters who believe this "whole Russian hacking thing," is a Democrat Party ruse. That is has "gone on much too long," and that it says nothing. We have a President who will not even admit it happened and insists all the revelations are fake.
The larger question is why has our President continually denied, evaded, and put the fake news label on this very serious Russian hacking truth. It is not fake nor has it been drummed up by the Democrats. Intel and our Intelligence Community have verified it, and the simple truth is without our President acknowledging that it even occurred it will continue.
There is only one way to stop it. President Trump has to admit it happened, that it is not fake news, and that he will, as POTUS, and his oath to the Constitution make sure all the facts come out.
In this climate of secrecy and fake news labeling, thank goodness for those willing to expose our truths.
5
I have read that Steele has walked back some of his dossier in a London court. Update? Let's go back to the origin of the "Russia collusion" brawl. Read The Guardian on line to see what happened 2014 in Kiev: a right-wing paramilitary force broke a truce with the government and surprised off-guard security forces. Later, as Trump appeared to want better relations with Russia, then-CIA Director Brennan, as he testified, formed a working group with the FBI and NSA watching possible Russian election interference and Trump’s contacts with Russians. (The CIA is forbidden to operate in the U.S.; however, this arrangement made proxy entry possible.) The Obama Administration made the unusual step of asking the FBI for the names of Trump team members who were incidentally caught up in phone taps of Russians and perhaps others. Did Comey act properly in so doing? Was Comey's conduct linked to the working group?
2
All those who have helped in exposing Trump for the danger he is to society should receive this nation's highest awards. The Generals who continue to obfuscate and defend Trump's incompetence should be tried for treason to this nation. Trump is doing US much harm and no one within his inner circle dare speak truth to power. Shame on the Generals and all those who are aiding and abetting a lunatic.
DD
Manhattan
8
Trump calls the Russia investigation the biggest Witch Hunt in American history. He may be right. Mueller has already found four witches. Looks like their may be a whole coven of them.
10
"Mr. Trump sought, but never consummated, business deals in Russia."
Putin: Donald, do I have a deal for you. We help make you great president ever, then you do us some favors and then we get you nice property in Moscow.
Donald: If you make it the biggest, tallest , greatest property you got a deal
3
So we are supposed to accept the pure intent of the NYTs? Fine, but the amount of resources the Times seems to have put into this suggests that it continues to believe many of the things that have been discredited and has failed to acknowledge forcefully that after more than 18 months no evidence exists to suggest any sort of collusion.
4
Great, and as vindictive as it seems, I hope the golden showers business is true too. I want the Christian vote to know what they elected. When, EVER, did Trump tout his Christianity until he needed religious right whackos with blinders on to vote for him. Our electorate scares me to death.
7
I am grateful you did, downloaded it and so far, it has all proven to be true. I am waiting for the prostitute stuff to be verified though, that might just be the stone that will sink this terrible terrible Trump ship once and for all.
5
No mainstream media outlet published the dossier because they determined it contains slanderous allegations, some of which are demonstratively false, but none of which are demonstratively true. While congressional committees and the U.S. intelligence community have acted on the dossier contents, they have never made copies of the dossier publically available—not because it contains classified information—it doesn’t—but because they consider its allegations false or unsubstantiated. In its report to Congress, the intelligence community characterized it as an example of Russian disinformation,
Apparently, BuzzFeed made no effort t to determine whether the dossier’s allegations were true or false prior to publication. For example, President Donald Trump's personal lawyer Michael Cohen, who has filed a lawsuit against BuzzFeed, says he can prove didn’t he didn’t travel to Prague to conspire with Russian operatives as the dossier alleges and that his wife isn’t Russian his wife isn’t Russian, as the dossier alleges. Did BuzzFeed contact Cohen prior to publication?
The BuzzFeed editor cites a CIA veteran who said, ““One large portion of the dossier is crystal-clear, certain, consistent and corroborated. Russia’s goal all along has been to do damage to America and our leadership role in the world.” Unfortunately, didn’t redact portions of the dossier that aren’t “crystal-clear, certain, consistent and corroborated” prior to publication.
1
Interested readers will remember a younger Orrin Hatch and his relationship to the Nixon Presidency going down the tubes(they only showed us enough to get rid of the murdering pig). This time resigned because his blackened soul couldn't take even one more well thought out cheerfully delivered lie. Boy Scout oath an' all that.
Laura Ingraham better start getting some comp cases together. As far as I can see John Wayne is the only one of you with any real staying power and his audience is moving toward full time naps. Maybe the Mercer Laundry foundation for social change and political chicanery will bring you on for their last gasp. Lipstick on the proverbial pig. You have seen the missus. That trap door dumps you off in downtown San Salvador(been there). Your tattoos are as convincing as the shtick.
According to The Hill, the lawyer for Glenn Simpson has said people have died from the publication of this.
If so, would you still be proud?
1
Of course - what can you possibly mean? Truth, liberty, and freedom have costs. When a country is held under occupation by the few the masses must hear the truth so they can act.
Would you have Americans cower under their beds IF what you state is true? Do we lay down or get on with taking our country back from the Billionaire class? Not even a question about this.
3
Why not? People die from war- we wage war willingly and profit from it. People die from malnutrition and neglect - if we cut social safety nets or support a President that does- we are then complicit in those deaths. What's your point Sean - if truth comes out and affects people so be it.
4
I read the whole dossier back then. It was eye-opening and a bit of a mind blower, but I had to reserve judgement as it was early. It is no longer early and it is even more of a mind-blower now. Impeach Trump. Rid ourselves of the republican congress who are doing their own colluding and hiding with their fake Trump investigations. They are traitors. They are committing treason. More Clinton investigations? Are you kidding me !!?! The nation's voting integrity is at risk, has been attacked, will be attacked again and they focus on Mr Steele and the Clintons. Lock them up.
9
The question that should be answered by this newspaper is why did it care more about Clinton's emails than it did about Trump's active conspiracy to subvert this nations electoral process and ultimately give the Russians an asset in the White House.
8
Yes, speaking for sane Americans we’re ecstatic you published it. Also, it’s about time Dems stopped kissing trump and GOP’s feet. Imagine, just imagine if it were Hillary or Barack, Steele’s testimony would have been released eons ago.
And to you BuzzFeed, thank you for doing whatever to save our country and waking up Dems to again stand up, speak out or get out. We all applaud you. Since 1/20/17 we are so far away from what America stands for and getting worse by the minute; apathy has surely set in. Until we get MuellerTime (quickly please) at least we have you. Keep it up, please.
11
"...we knew a lot: We knew that it had been written by the former head of the Russia desk at Britain's main foreign intelligence agency (MI6)"
Bingo! The piece goes on to elaborate how that item became the cause of US political and police actions. Period...the story of some Austrian spy...or "ambassador"... being the initiator is a desperate after- the- facts misdirection, to cover the real caper.
Which is...the use of top secret intel data. Mr. Steele either broke contract/law by publishing without authorization OR...(wait for it, wait for it...) the Queen('s government) signed off on the operation. And so we have proof that a foreign government attempted to "influence" the outcome of the US Presidential election.
But not Russia (& grok this conundrum, given Putin "hated" Clinton why did he need any meeting with Trump to release that "dirt"? Maybe Trump was hoping the Russians would release what he had, instead? & didn't, Assange was paid to...)
But the problem is, in the 5 eyes, 5 ears apparat of all for one and one for all, most intel proceeds from US INTELLIGENCE...
& would the UK violate that link by releasing to the public top secret product...
without US Intel signing off, like the Queen?
Of course not...
That's the story Inquiring Minds want to read.
4
Err ... excuse me. Did you miss the often repeated fact that Mr. Steele is a FORMER MI6 employee? The British government had nothing to do with this. Thus, the rest of your fairytale misinterpretation of the (widely) reported facts falls apart because your basic premise is false.
3
Propaganda in the guise of journalism is and always has been a bigger threat to our democracy.
5
The 1st amendment was first for a reason.
The 1st Amendment is the most important to the maintenance of a democratic government.
Many contradicting voices, multiple journalistic sources, various points of view all work to limit the effect of propaganda.
Donald attacks the 1st Amendment because he fears the truth.
5
When it was published Buzzfeed said it was unsubstantiated. How is that propaganda? Very funny in light of the garbage that spews from Fox News.
8
Bravo and thank you!
8
The dossier is but one of several lines of investigation into trump. Obstruction of Justice, money laundering, and working with known criminals of both the Russian Mafia and the US seem to be part of this soup of sewage spilling out of the trump White House.
The misinformation being shouted from the rooftops by the GOP to thwart the investigation into its fearless leader are taking its toll on our democracy. The FBI has given its raw notes on the criminal investigation into trump to Nunes and his cronies on the Congressional investigative committee, and the DOJ has furnished emails to the Judiciary Committee to bolster claims of political prejudice in the Mueller investigation.
The dossier may have its truths, but the overall attack by the GOP into an investigation that shows an attack on our very democracy because it interferes with their political agenda is where the real story lies. That is what needs to be exposed for all of its destructive power and disregard for their oath of office to uphold the Constitution.
If you can stop that cancer, then toot your horn, but until then, I'm not impressed with the dossier, or GPS.
The GOP is systematically destroying 200 plus years of democratic rule to power, and does not care that Russia is destroying this country. As long as they can hold onto power, then they care little about the destruction of our system of laws or this countries people.
Way to go GOP, way to go!!!! Are you listening Buzz Feed??
7
You have no proof that Trump is guilty of money launderings. has obstructed justice or has worked with known criminals be they be Russian or American.
The Mueller investigation does not have as a goal to get information that will be used to impeach Trump.
Most likely it will find that there is enough out there to believe something illegal could have happenned but not even close to continue the investigation and we will have to accept that Trump will remain in office
The Democrats have to get ready for the next selection so the GOP will not have the legitimate power they have now to govern.
They need pick to a candidate who can be supported by enough people to win the next election.
If they can not do that then the GOP will not be beaten and everything Trump is for will be the law of the land even if Trump is no longer the President.
So stop this vendetta you have against Trump and do what you should have done last year.
Figure a way to win the election.
.
.
trump's treason has been in existence for years beginning in the 1990's. The inherited scummy approach to life left him in need of money no legitimate source would produce, so he turned to the Russian mafia and received his lucre. In return he undermines the country's institutions, stability, allegiances and standing in the world.
19
That argument should have been made before Trump was elected.
Now it is too late.
He is the President and most likely will not be impeached as the Republicans control the Senate.
So stop talking about the past and do talk about the future.
If you do not like what the GOP is doing then try to convince them they are wrong and if you can't do that then try to convince the nation to vote the GOP out of office.
Amen Mr. Smith.
4
Sorry Ben but it is not acknowledged as "real news" by most of the people who know what they are doing. BuzzFeed is a poor media outlet for publishing "unverified" info and may be a target for litigation and damages. Suggest you lawyer up. Sad!!
1
The dossier had been shopped to numerous outlets, and all them refused to publish it because it couldn't be corroborated. That's what journalism is about and for. The people praising Buzzfeed in these comments would be outraged if papers like the NY Times treated mere printed accusations -- which is what the dossier was then and substantially remains today -- against Hillary Clinton the way Buzzfeed did this. And rightly so.
Because "people are talking about it" is not justification for a news organization of any credibility to publish without any corroboration. That they did tells you what you need to know about Buzzfeed, namely that they lack even the most basic journalistic standards and are purveyors of clickbait -- a left-reflection of rightwing garbage sites like Breitbart.
9
Journalism is also about providing all the information available, in order that a free people can make their own decision.
Be skeptical of all you read, even if you agree with it.
3
Buzzfeed did more damage to the FBI than its intended target, Donald trump. It exposed the bias snd corruptness of the top honchos investigating all things Russia, including the dossier. Bad Buzzfeed. I wouldn’t pat myself on the back if I were you.
5
The headline to this article sounds like Trump himself.
1
The rats in the White House may yet be caught. Bringing up Clinton is a "What about her or what about this game" used to justify possible criminality. It's infantile as a way of moral reasoning, "Well, she took a cookie from the jar, so I did, too, and it's ok." Give me a break.
5
"Do you feel that way? Does anyone?"
Yes. Everyone.
http://news.gallup.com/poll/195542/americans-trust-mass-media-sinks-new-...
2
americans had this coming and more in the queue,sadly. the dishonesty around race(denying obamas white heritage is racist), its puritan societal framework and its disturbing ignorance of the planet beyond its borders is the tarmac that launched trump.
1
Good work Buzz Feed. Without your publication, the Republicans would have buried the whole dossier story. Until, that is, the Mueller Reckoning.
Your publication and Diane Feinstein deserve awards for acting on behalf of justice.
9
The quote from John Sipher would seem to go a long way toward explaining the President's behavior toward the Russia investigation. It suggests that the Russians were not necessarily trying to help Trump because they thought he was in some ways a better candidate, or someone whose policies were more favorable to Russia, but because they wanted to harm the United States, and they believed that a Trump victory would be harmful to the US, i.e., that even his idol Vladimir Putin thinks he is unfit. That is not something that Trump's ego can tolerate.
9
Good play left. Paid opposition research converted into counter intelligence and used to attack your opponent by wiretaps and investigations. Too bad it is fraudulent. To bad it was used to trick a FISA judge into a search warrant. Too bad this hasn't even began to explode.
7
The President and the Republican Party do not want this report widely available because it absolutely points to on-going Russian involvement with attempts to influence our electoral process. Forget collusion.....they are complicit by turning a blind eye while a hostile foreign power who exports nothing of value to the rest of the world, but deals in cyber manipulation of democratic processes around the globe. Americans need to wake up to this or we will be living under a system that more closely resembles the corrupt Russian Oligarchy than the democratic system we say that we value and love.
12
They might not want it reported widely because they know the dossier was mostly planted Russian intelligence designed to sow division and discord in the USA.
So let me get this straight. By not recognizing real Russian interference in our electoral process, they are protecting us from division and discord. Really?
2
There is a difference between the value of the fake news contents of the dossier, and the existence of the dossier itself. The former has no value, the latter does.
I am grateful it's existence is now public because it exposes the DNC, Clinton campaign and FBI's involvement in colluding with Russians (via Steele) to influence the US election. It is also interesting that the FBI, the Secret Police force of the Democrat party, used its existence as the basis to spy on the entirety of the Trump campaign and administration, and then leaking to the media.
3
Mr. Steele's dossier shows what he was told by his own sources. He presented the information to those who were paying him. Whether his sources made everything up (not likely) or only some things, nevertheless, he presented a report of information available. I honestly don't care if the more salacious reports are true or not. Mr. Trump left himself open for this information to be developed by the Russians, long before he thought to run for president. Period.
4
The simple fact is that most of the basic claims in the dossier have been proven true, which would tend to give you a higher confidence level in some of its other claims. No, it doesn'y prove the other claims, and there is the old adage about "extraordinary claims requiring extraordinary evidence."
Still, given the extreme level of evasion. concealment, and prevarication about anything to do with Russia, on the part of so many within the Trump orbit, if I had to wager my bank account one way or the other, I would certainly take the side saying that most of the as-yet unverified claims are also true.
And it's not even a close decision. People who are innocent and have nothing to hide simply don't act the way so many Trump associates - and Trump himself - have acted.
12
The U.S.'s political and campaign financing "rules" are ridiculously lax, which is eroding its democracy. Congress, state legislatures, the presidency: all are subject to the will of big money, including foreign money. The dossier on Trump suggests one example. There are many others, such as big pharma. Ever wonder why neither party in Congress wants to vigorously enforce the country's own drug laws with egregious offenders like McKesson and Purdue - companies that continue to facilitate the opioid crisis? Instead of squeezing the source of addiction, the legislators focus on "treatment money." Could this have anything to do with how many of the legislators depend on big pharma for campaign money? Fix the financing laws.
7
This will be recorded as the first consequential document of this century. Republicans are scared to death which we will speed up on November 6.
10
Have the feeling this could backfire big time and lead to a long overdue "Watergate" moment for the American press.
1
I feel like we are watching a crime mystery series on TV like Columbo or Perry Mason. We understand a crime was committed, and each week we have new details and drama--soon there will be a series finally where it will all be revealed.
11
When President Trump disagrees with anything the printed or electronic media shares with the public, he refers to it as "fake news".
Having the capacity to either engage or demure from information being provided to the public is a quality most Presidents have understood. Some have fared better than others, but none, to my knowledge, has referred to unpleasant revelations as "fake" with the expected regularity as he.
"The President doth protest too much, methinks......."
7
"One large portion of the dossier is crystal-clear, certain, consistent and corroborated"...."Russia's goal all along has been to do damage to America and our leadership role in the world."
Whatever your political beliefs, how did the still-unverified dossier help to illuminate this point? Haven't we known this for decades? And the dossier helping to explain "forces at play in America" is hubris on the part of Mr. Smith. I would be laughing if he were not the editor in chief for a major news publication.
Freedom of information is important, but Mr. Smith seems all too willing to sweep under the rug that the dossier is still unproven conjecture, paid for, in part, by a political opponent. If anything, Buzzfeed is ironically helping to create a new era of McCarthyism, not inform the electorate for the better.
3
"Russia's goal has all along ben to do damage to America and oure leadership role in the world." It took the Steele dossier for you to figure that out? What happened to Obama's snide remark to Romney that "the 1980's are calling and they want their foreign policy back" - after Romeny had warned that Russia was the biggest geopolitical threat the U.S. had? I'm guessing at the time that you probably applauded Obama's remark.
The Democrats who are working tirelessly to uncover the depths of Trump's subservience to the Russians are patriots to whom we owe a great debt for doing whatever it takes to maintain our democracy and freedom. Meanwhile, the Republicans undermine this great nation every chance they get as they slavishly kneel before their master, the Russian agent known as Trump.
6
Even if the Dossier is a fabrication (which is likely not the case), it's existence and relation to events around the World qualify it as news. Holocaust deniers, even if their message and content is fake and a pack of lies, still warrant a news story, just as all of DT's lies also make the news. Cognitive dissonance, anyone?
3
Mmmmmm no. News should present facts, facts that have been checked twice before publication. Opinion Editorials can delve into the area of rumor and conjecture.
Thank you.
4
Hold the bus..."a main threat to journalism is that journalists might be too transparent with their audience. " What? Transparent enough to quote anonymous sources, give no claim to basic "journalistic fact check" and then? What? - publish it of course! Wow...Not sure who (or what) is more in the wrong here. The "journalists" and "publishers" conspiring to misinform the public OR the FBI "agents" conspiring to "insure" a Hillary victory. Jump off your soapbox for just a second and admit - both - are kinda bad.
7
So are we!
3
Call the release of this unverified report anything you wish, but it it not journalism.
7
Trump and the GOP Russian-colluded criminal treasonous gang has sold America to Russia, so cheap and so fast!
5
Exactly what has been sold by the GOP/Trump to Russia? Hmmm, cant be uranium, that was taken care of by Obama.
We’re proud of you too. Chuck Todd’s knee jerk “fake news” attribution to the dossier is looking more ridiculous by the day.
5
The Russians came to my house, held guns to our heads and promised to kill us if we voted for Hillary and not Trump.
4
Why is the transcript gone?
Russia selected the resident of our White House.
They selected him because they have kompromat with which to blackmail him, he is easily manipulated with a simple compliment, and is to be overly kind, a dotard.
The biggest threat to our country is his remaining in the office Russia chose for him.
The biggest problem beyond that is identifying how many others in the administration and party are co conspirators.
4
Thank you.
5
Thank you.
6
The New York Times should have published it, to great fanfare.
4
WOW!!!! A whistle-blower from England shows concern for USA national security and shares intelligence information with the F.B.I. about a possible Russian blackmailing scheme enlisting Trump as a presidential contender, and Senator Grassley seeks to criminalize, the British Agent for his good deed and sound judgment. Go figure. Maybe Grassley and Graham should be thrown in jail for a coverup worse than "Watergate" and Tricky Dick Nixon.
10
There is a large distinction between Whistleblower and Contractor. Do the reading on where Steele came from and why the dossier was compiled. Context is important. To conflate questioning of Steele to questioning whistleblowers is just dishonest
1
Now if can only legitimize, as you try, a fake conglomeration of bogus unsubstantiated rumor based on lies and false premise promoted by a criminal enterprise and anti US constitutional prior government employees, our democratic republic will be improved... Really!
What is so surprising or damning in this "revelation"? That one presidential candidate dug up dirt about another? We should move on from this Russia obsession and pay attention to the real damage being done by republicans with their tax cut for corporations and offshore drilling push. Stop wasting time pandering to the political aspirations of the mainstream democrats.
3
The release of the Fusion GPS transcript leaves me little doubt that Bannon's comment that Trump Jr. will crack like an egg was spot on. After release only an idiot would believe the Republican smear campaign.
Now it's time for Jr to step up and talk to America under oath. The only question left is "Did u tell your father about the meeting?"
Doesn't matter what Donald Trump says. He's a liar. If Trump Jr admits he told his father then it's over. Sure there's much more to it but Trump knowing about the meeting and keeping it a secret would be "treasonous" even to Steve Bannon.
Trump has done worse but that coming to light, in any normal world, would cause a president to resign.
Republicans be afraid. Be very afraid
6
All very intriguing stuff, but unless I missed something, there still is not the slightest evidence that the dossier actually exists -- unless Trump's fawning and obsequious behavior towards Putin is all we need to go by.
3
I hope Graham and Grassley both are held accountable to their states and the country for not just misleading / lying to the public; but for knowingly doing so. Both these Senators had been fully briefed on the Fusion data in August. Their actions are totally counter to our national security and they should be help to account. Voting them out is a bare minimum, but since they like the good ole days - public flogging & shaming or tar & feathering? their choice.
10
I soundly applaud your decision to publish the dossier. In spite of Repubs efforts to discredit it, too much of it rings true and much of it is corroborated. We, the USA people, need more openness in reporting on Trump's crimes.
It is indeed a sad affair that we have a Putin puppet ensconced in the Oval office, and Republicans have no inclination to put a check on this sordid situation. We can only hope that Dems can gain a majority in at least one hall of Congress in 2018, but they face a steep uphill battle against gerrymandering, billionaire financing, Fox fake news and Putin's disinformation campaign.
5
There is not a single fact in the entire ''dossier.''
The entire piece of fiction was ordered by the DNC party organization under Debbie Wasserman Schultz, the Clinton campaign, and possible various U.S. government functions s requested by Pres. Obama.
The criminality here is that this bit of farce was used by the Obama administration to get court orders to eavesdrop on American citizens involved with the Trump campaign.
Those not bothered by this should thus expect a future GOP administration to spy on a campaign by some Democrat using a similar bit of fiction, but they'll have the sense not to pay anyone $9 to $12 million for it.
The dossier really tells us that the Obama administration stopped at nothing to spy on anyone that could possible work to put Republicans into high office, rather like a Kremlin government would.
5
Many did NOT read the dossier at the time, for the same reasons we didn't read the stolen emails from the DNC, as it wasn't designed for public viewing, but for a specific audience. Yet, from a journalistic perspective, it did what it was intended to do and got the attention of investigators and committee members of where to look and why. Now, that this information is available to the public, the Republicans in Congress need to do their job and heed the warnings that Russia's influence could undermine our next election without sanctions enforced and protections installed. The Russians got off cheaply last time, but allowing them to repeat their intrusion adds insult to injury and makes us appear foolish, for a very different reason than our "so-called" president stated makes us look foolish to the world.
3
Certainly Republicans are angry that some criminal and treasonous acts committed by their leader have been publicly described.
It is likely that the raw intelligence in the so-called "dossier" has proven more accurate and is certainly more complete than anything else I saw published by any US news outlet prior to the election.
Unlike the times Democrats find corruption, hypocrisy and worse in their ranks (google "shrimp boy gunrunning democrat lee" for a classic), Republicans deny, evade, falsify, and work to subvert law enforcement and the judiciary while Democrats respond by expelling the culprits and letting the criminal prosecution process take its course.
Republicans capable of behaving rationally seem to have lost their critical thinking skills in the recent defense of treasonous acts--or themselves been corrupted. What happened, for example, to Lindsey Graham, who is clearly intelligent, self-aware, and well informed? Is this some kind of collective hysteria similar to that surrounding the Salem Witch trials, or something even more sinister? There are rumors that the Russian hacked documents from the RNC are now weaponized for blackmail. Or is it simply self-induced blindness caused by fear of reduced campaign funds?
Are Chuck Grassley and Devin Nunes complicit in obstructing justice, or even committing treasonous acts? How long before the belief in Fox News and Republican talking points is seen as less credible than belief in the tooth fairy?
5
Bravo Mr.Smith. Let the light shine on !
2
Excuse me, ARE so widespread among Republicans.
Public figures must accept the exposure of information bearing on their public activities. Libel is specific and this doesn't meet that test. It is far too often and far too easy to invoke prior restraint, privilege, secret, and all the other excuses for those whom the information affects. The classic was Nixon. Why do we ever think the rest of the accused deserve their escapades hidden from our view. We pay for this government. We have the right to know and the obligation to make up our own minds. Stop protecting us from knowing how bad our representatives really are. maybe will will vote differently if we knew how they feed off the public trough.
2
It could difficult to discern the truth -- even at the end of all this -- but only with the truth will we the people know how proud you may or may not be.
So the FBI decided to spy on a presidential candidate and his associates based on an opposition research document paid for by the opposing political party. Not only that but the main character providing information in the document had clear and unambiguous connections to the Russian government. Finally leadership in the FBI had clear and unambiguous bias opposed to the Trump presidential run. Now where is the collusion actually?
5
Literally nothing you just said is true. Please try to be better informed.
1. As the Fusion GPS transcripts released yesterday make clear, there was *already* an FBI investigation going on before the dossier.
2. The dossier was originally financed by another R candidate (signs point to Jeb, but that's not been proven) and the Washington Free Beacon, a right-wing publication. Yes, at the end it was picked up by the DNC.
2. The "main character" was a British M-16 agent who had "connections" to Russia because that was his area of expertise.
3. If you read all the text messages (and not just the ones Fox/Breitbart chose to release) you'll find out that they made derogatory comments about everyone, including HRC, Chelsea Clinton, and Eric Holder. Even so, having an opinion doesn't mean that they can't be objective about an investigation - they are trained to do that.
And if you want to talk about bias, how about that the current FBI director has donated tens of thousands of dollars to the RNC? (Not bad on a civil service salary, btw!) What about the fact that rogue agents in the NY office of the FBI were the reason Comey had to go public with the Weiner investigation - and Comey's going public 11 days before the election most likely caused HRC to lose. You'll recall Rudy Guilani crowing about "Hillary going down" according to his "friends in the FBI" days before Comey went public. Or is bias good when it works in your favor?
Seriously, please try to get better informed.
3
Senator Feinstein's release of the dossier puts the lie to Trump's assertions of no collusion or obstruction regarding the ongoing investigation of Russia's interference in the 2016 presidential election. It's not a 'witch hunt,' it's a money hunt.
7
It is laudable that you had the courage to publish this extraordinary document. I speak for myself and other true Americans when I say that we are grateful for your service to our country. Many thanks and keep up the good work. Semper fidelis.
3
Buzzfeed published the dossier - they didn't claim that it was all true or verified. They simply reported that this is the dossier that was being discussed by out intelligence agencies, by the Sentate - the dossier created at the behest of the Republicans running against Trump, then later by the Dems. It certainly provides an explanation to something that I've not seen Fox News or the Trump supporters explain. Why does Pres. Trump never, ever say a bad word about Putin or the Russians - always apologizes for Putin's government. Putin is about the only man on earth Trump hasn't attacked at some point. Why why why WHY?
6
A question arises: fake news is made up news or opinions thrown out there as being facts; if news agencies or fake news agencies send out an unconfirmed news story how can we tell if it is fake or not? The news stories out there are perceived by the public confirmed facts not made up or distorted images and articles. This is why fake news outlets have followers people have assumed these stories are confirmed. News stories must be confirmed otherwise we continue the charade and the chaos that fake news has created among the masses. Luckily this story is true there is now evidence and Mueller hopefully will get to the bottom of it. In this digital age, we cannot rely on luck because the stakes are too high, keeping our democracy intact.
1
Just as free press is necessary to protect the democracy , so is the burden of proof. This publication is that proof to me and to a lot of people.
It may be challenged and turned down in court of law but I think that democratic success of our society is also bound largely by morality and righteousness and not legality only ( a dream in today's day and time in our county ).
Thanks from the bottom of my heart.
Maybe it's time to create a vetting process that will allow our politicians to meet an established standard before being put in charge of our cities, states, and country. We make teachers, fire fighters, policemen, lawyers, doctors, engineers and other professionals pass all kinds of tests and licensing before we allow them to practice in their field, not to mention sometimes years of experience before being deemed "qualified."
We as the employers of these elected individuals need to demand more of them or we're sure to keep getting less.
4
The Steele Dossier reflects the huge casam between the old and new media. Chuck Todd, using Trumps words, clearly is an example of that. The manipulation of the media, as reflected in the Russian attacks, shines a bright light on changes that need to be made to insure the Republic. The race will be for the safeguards to be place before the Republic is destroyed. I can only pray that there are more Buzzfeeds out their doing their job as journalists. Our country depends on it.
1
What we have learned does not discredit the idea Trump was willingly helped by the Russians. At the bare minimum he was open to taking whatever they would give to help his chances, that seems to fall under the definition of collusion.
The "we're dumb and inexperienced" excuses by Don Jr, Kushner, Carter Page, etc, etc are not cutting it.
Presidential announcement came at, or shortly after, Miss America pageant in Moscow (where Trump Tower project was discussed) and supposed Kompromat was gotten
Trump has personal and financial ties to Russian mob (Felix Sater) and money laundering
Trump and his entire admin has lied repeatedly about Russian contacts (why Sessions recused himself and Kushner cannot get security clearance)
Trump asked on national TV to get Hillary's hacked emails released
Trump has tried on numerous occasions (privately and publicly) to stop, control or impede the investigation aka obstruct.
The only question is how well the Russians covered their tracks and if anyone on team Trump will spill the beans about Donald Trump's direct involvement. I hope Mueller acts swiftly before more of our democracy is eroded.
3
It might be true that Buzzfeed and Trump and Putin all stoke outrage and fear to make you forget that making money and being known is really their (much more boring) bottom line. The key difference between Buzzfeed and the other tow is that Buzzfeed will cease to matter incredibly quickly if their sensational news routinely turns out to be completely false. We would literally have to do nothing (a Millennial specialty) to make Buzzfeed's power disappear and Buzzfeed knows it.
I'd bet you the entire value of Hermitage Capital that when President Putin and President Trump open their mouth, they know this difference too.
1
You should be proud for publishing the dossier. Very, very, very proud. Thank you.
2
I am pleased the NYT continues to uphold journalistic standards, and publishes the truth despite strong encouragement to do otherwise. If some person/s are afraid of the truth, all the more reason for publishing. We have by the grace of G-d a free press.
3
Thank you for the publishing of this document. If anything helps to save our democracy, it is the work of journalists like you Sir. The Republicans, Mercers, Kochs et.al. are out to convert our country and institutions into their radical right image.
3
So many commenters opine that Republicans place party before country. The truth is that they place their income/$upport from their corporate sponsors ahead of party and country. The Republicans used to be a reasonable alternative to liberal policies--when they were truthful, responsible, good citizens of the USA. Now, the GOP has dismantled much that is civilized about our country, and put corporate profits ahead of the welfare of their constituents.
The case for not publishing the "dossier" was only a ploy to keep the truth from the American public, and Chuck Grassley is a disgrace to his state, his country and to Congress. The cynical acts of "leading" Republicans in Congress only bring shame to our country.
4
"Since we published, the public has learned a great deal more about how seriously the F.B.I. took the dossier."
Yes, what we learned was that the Clinton Campaign, DNC and FBI colluded with Russian Operatives to throw an election. The FBI was so intent to deny Trump that they chose to not verify the allegations to favor Hillary and expose the corrupt Obama DOJ and FBI.
What we learned was just how corrupt and what lengths the Obama administration would go to remain in power.
3
You learned that bogus information from Rush Limbaugh and Fox News, get your sources straight.
Also, it would have taken a military backed coup for the Obama Administration to remain in power last year, since he was concluding his second and final term in office.
2
Your justification for this dossier is that of a self licking ice cream cone.
6
That's right Jeff, keep it down low so Grassley could lie to us.
2
The Republicans have wanted to roll back Franklin Roosevelt's new deal since the 1930's, they see Trump as their useful idiot in this project and they shown that they will do whatever is necessary to keep him in office to sign whatever they put in front of him.
6
Chris needs to check out the video of that meeting with Democrats yesterday in the White House. Trump is every bit as organized as either of the Clintons or Mr. Obama and plenty smart enough to get complicated things done
Republicans want to kill the messenger. Just as they did under Nixon. Just as they did under Reagan.
4
Hey NYTimes, if you are to retain some ‘newspaper of record’ cred you ought to include a link to the ‘dossier’ in an op ed piece about the anniversary of the publishing of it.
Or at least say why you aren’t including a link.
2
https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/3259984-Trump-Intelligence-Alleg...
Took me exactly seven seconds from reading your whine to locate this. You are welcome!
2
Hopefully Michael Cohen's defamation lawsuit will bankrupt BuzzFeed and its fake news operation...ala Gawker.
1
This analysis is beyond absurd.
2
It's quite obvious to me that congressional Republicans see in president Trump their useful idiot and will do anything to protect that asset. The fact that they are ok with and actively participating in a coverup of the Trump campaigns contacts and communications with Russian operatives tells me all I need to know about their patriotism.
3
I read the so-called Russia dossier and thought it was a mock up of an SNL skit! Then some people actually took the allegations seriously and might have gotten a FISA warrant to spy on the Trump campaign! Some people are so desperate to take down Trump that they will believe anything and connive at great lengths to propagate their nonsense! Here is a conspiracy theory for them to work on: Trump is not of this Earth, seriously! Look at what he has accomplished in his first year in office! Only an alien would have been able to do that with the help of his alien brothers! Demand DNA testing on Donald Trump to see if he has alien DNA! Then Impeach the alien 45!
3
I'd rather just see his tax returns, thank you.
1
We all know why this dossier was published, and it wasn't to corroborate accusations of Paul Manafort's unlawfulness. It was to paint candidate Trump as a sexual pervert, thus aiding candidate Clinton.
Be honest, NYT.
3
DT did not need any Dossier to paint that picture. His own words on tape did that more accurately.
2
Sexual pervert?? How else would you classify one who appears to covet his daughter, has had extramarital affairs, 3 wives, 'pops' in to the dressing room of Miss Universe (or whatever) contestants and boasts of grabbing a woman by the genitalia (I'm trying to be nice for the holidays), etc. ad nauseum?? Locker room talk? Yeah, right! DUH
2
Here's a novel idea for the NYT. How about making a real effort to verify the truth of what you hope to publish before rushing to press. It might help you regain some credibility
4
The real story: The Rotten To The Core the GOP! They are working overtime trying to protect themselves, the party and the deranged person occupying the WH!
4
The summary of events so far....
As Special Prosecutor Mueller continues to investigate rumors that Russians "hacked" "something" "somewhere" in collusion with "Trump advisors' and possibly even Trumps 2nd cousin....we have learned that dark sinister spies pushed secret dosiers across a bar table in Melbourne Australia.....the fabled Pelican Brief that was last thought to be in Caracas....lost during the shootout between FARC agents and Jason Bourne......but then heard to be in possession of either Mosad or the Taliban.......But, thank goodness Senator Feinstein fought hard for the truth(and re-election) and proved once and for all that Barrak Obama has a genuine Hawaiian birth certificate.
Roll the Credits.
1
That Fox News is the number one ( or there a-bouts)rated show should help explain why honesty and integrity have left the building. What has Trump promised scum like Graham? Attorney General? I’m not confident the truth will set us free anymore.
7
What is appalling that Putin's Russia interfered in the 2016 election, but hos complicit the GOP House member and GOP senators are in discrediting Mr. Steel, a true patriot who out of concern informed the FBI about his findings.
4
You realize that Mr. Steele, the "true patriot" as you call him, is a BRITISH CITIZEN, not a US citizen????
We are dealing with $ouled out $ub-humans with tremendous ego$! And on the top of this list is trump! An eclipse of consciousness has occurred and as a result a dark sphere of dark money and lobbyi$t has overtaken this country! putin has compromised trump, his thinking is kgb and trump is too $tupid to figure it out! trump WILL be forced to resign before letting them reveal his crooked $ourching!
2
I'm used to journalists getting both sides of a story. Why couldn't you solicit comment from the named parties?
1
Everyone should read this. More proof that "Windbag-Liar" Donald J. Trump is a criminal and has deep ties with the Russian Mafia. The family is a family of crooks.
7
The FBI was not "spying" on an "American citizen" they were conducting "surveillance" after obtaining a WARRANT because of alleged criminal activity. Thanks NYT now THAT euphanism will be used, as it has, INCORRECTLY!!!!!
3
You can deny the snout, the little curvy tail and all the other distinguishing features, but a Pig is still a Pig. The FACT is, bussfeed published a FALSE report that they knew was false BEFORE THEY PUBLISHED IT. Now, to defend it by claiming the FBI and others are investigating President Trump because of their "Heroic" actions in laughable. For the NYT's, once a respectable paper to publish this is just sad.
5
This piece along with every Charles Blow screed (he used a Cosmo survey as a piece of supposed factual evidence), sinks the credibility a little more.
4
It's an interesting piece trying to support "the end justifying the means." Personally, I think it was shoddy journalism because the main premise that Trump colluded with the Russians during the campaign has not been proven. So far, the special prosecutor has got Flynn on lying to the FBI charges for meeting with the Russian Ambassador post election & Maniforth & his cronies for money laundering and acting as an undeclared lobbying agent for Ukraine way before his involvement with the Trump campaign. It has uncovered Russian tendency to try and manipulate our election process but we see this all the time with our press on both sides despite their general claim of being neutral - farcical considering what we seen from both ends of the political spectrum. While I find this administration unfocused, clumsy and irritating as hell, it was elected under our electoral college format and the constant demand for impeachment, removal under the 24th Amendment or emulation clause dangerous as people are trying to circumnavigate our elections because they hate this President. We have an electoral process for a reason - 2018 is the next time the American people have a chance to pass judgement on how things are going and 2020 to make a call on Donny. If evidence comes out of direct collusion, I will demand of my congressman to impeach him but so far, no evidence has appeared.
4
No evidence has appeared because the investigation is still ongoing. Caramba folks, when its’ over we’ll know. Lets just wait.
1
I think that the decision to publish this information was wrong. But I could well be wrong: I often am, in fact, as I painfully find out later.
It all depends upon one's idea of journalism. Does a reputable, journal publish anything and everything it gets its hands on? Some here say yes, fine, do it, because "democracy dies in darkness." But shouldn't a trustworthy news source publications be selective, judgmental, wise (if such a thing is humanly possible) and champion the attitude: "All the news that's fit to print"?
I really don't know and probably never will. So do we run it up the flagpole nonetheless and see who salutes? Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead? Or do we look long and hard before we leap? (I never could decide between the philosophical positions of: (1) He who waits is lost; and (2) all good things come to he who waits.)
"Through a glass, darkly, we see."
-- (Darth Vader, with his helmet on, or maybe it was St. Paul).
1
Dossiers aside, given the damage that vile misdirected racist oaf, Trump, and his cabinet of cruds from the destructive profiteering big money & racist cesspool have done to our country and the world, the sooner that bum is got rid of and his do-nothing republican cronies are booted from Congress, the better!!!
7
What the author didn't know, or perhaps did know and just swept under the rug, is the compromised nature of the dossier as a product of "dirty tricks" digging funded by the Clinton campaign and the Democratic National Committee.
If anything is a threat to our system of democracy, it is the deliberate use of anonymously sourced hit pieces created for one political party as a weapon against another.
I will applaud Special Prosecutor Mueller, if, in spite of the black eyes that several of his minions has given his efforts, addresses the internal political weaponization of the Justice Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
I will also applaud Special Prosecutor Mueller if he addresses suborning of the Department of Justice and the Federal Bureau of Investigation by the political superiors and persons with vested interests in the outcomes of "matters".
6
This is false. It's been well established that Fusion GPS was originally hired by conservative Republicans. Why are you choosing to ignore that fact?
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/27/us/politics/trump-dossier-paul-singer...
4
It is false to think that the dossier was compiled when Fusion was no longer employed by a Republican leaning organization.
The funding trail from the DNC and the Clinton campaign has been well documented by what can rightly be considered an unimpeachable source...The lawyer that actually did the hiring and managed the account.
Don't bury your head in the sand, Pete. It's unbecoming of a reasonable discourse on the problems.
1
While the dossier has been helpful, it simply reinforces what many of us already know about the Trump Camp. And we won't be surprised, indeed we expect, him and his cronies to be removed from office in handcuffs. But for now the line of succession looks equally bad...Pence then Ryan.
The rubber truly hits the road in Congress so what will we do in 2018? Hopefully we'll elect a lot more independent candidates and put both parties on notice that the shenanigans must come to an end.
3
This article highlights the perverse incentives in the news business and serves as a warning for consumers of their product to be skeptical, very skeptical of what passes as “news”. As Ben Bradley reportedly said, “we don’t print the truth, we print stories people tell us”.
3
Thank you BuzzFeed.
10
Steele's report was a compound of speculation and tips, which he attempted to corroborate, as intelligence agents and reporters do routinely.
It amounted to: "This seems to be the case."
The dossier is not a document one would rely on in court, but it has held up over the past year, and Steele was alarmed enough by what he learned to share his findings with U.S. officials, who knew him and took his findings seriously.
Far too many Republicans in Congress seem eerily reminiscent of Soviet era parliamentarians: willing to excuse any behavior by the great leader while reviling whistleblowers.
Good for Steele. Good work, BuzzFeed.
10
"Christopher Steele believes his dossier on Trump-Russia is 70-90% accurate"
Julian Borger in Washington
The Guardian
Wed 15 Nov '17 11.52 EST
That's the headline. So, yeah, Good for Steele. 70-90% of him. Bad for Steele. 10-30% of him. But, what parts of the 35 page "dossier" are the Good, and which parts are the Bad?
Loved the dossier. Loved that someone had the courage to publish it. Love that so many of "us" non-important people got to read it. Do not need to have anyone, even Rachael tell me what it is and what it portends.
Anything, anything that can be shared with Donald Trump can be shared with any one. If there is anything that is too dangerous to share with us, It is over the top too dangerous to share with the White House, congress at least half of the senators.
I get that the powerful few love secrets because they love to know about stuff so that they can feel important and make money from it.
There is reason to keep certain things secret as long as we have lose nuts running around the planet trying to be kings or strongmen. But the basic facts about our who is running our government, what the day to today things our government is doing and what the rationale is should all be open and up for discussion.
11
Trump claims that the Steele Dossier is Fake News, bogus. However, according Fusion-GPS’s co-founder Glenn Simpson’s lead counsel, Joshua Levy, “Somebody’s already been killed as a result of the publication of this dossier and no harm should come to anybody related to this honest work.”
Someone knew that the Steele Dossier is not Fake News and murdered a person.
Simpson’s testimony demolishes the Alt-Right conspiracy theories regarding the FBI and Christopher Steele.
Senators Chuck Grassley’s and Lindsey Graham’s refusal to release the testimony is disturbing because Grassley and Graham knew the facts, the truth, but instead permitted and encouraged rumors and innuendoes to flourish such as the FBI used the dossier to obtain FISA warrants. The FBI did not use the Steele Dossier to obtain FISA warrants.
The problem is that the people who believe that Grassley’s and Graham’s lies are the people who believe(d) Trump’s racist Birtherism lie and Trump’s assertions that the women who have accused him of inappropriate sexual behaviors are liars. In other words, people who believes lies, and not facts.
Steele believed that the Russians had “the dirt” to blackmail Trump, which is why Steele went to the FBI.
What is “the dirt”?
5
There is a sad Irony that the arbiter of "All the news that's fit to print" would take seriously the word of those working at an organization like Buzzfeed.
There has been much talk, hours upon hours worth, but very little has actually been revealed about this Dossier. And the bias displayed by the author and by extension the Times editorial staff is doing more to help Mr. Trump than anything else.
Mr. Steele did not conduct this research and collation out of the will of his conscious; he was hired to do so. First by republicans looking to stay their party's course. Next by Democrats looking to shift the focus from the history of a candidate that on the best of days could be called questionable.
Now do not misunderstand, Mr Trump has been an elite in a world very susceptible to corruption and abuse for quite a long time. However in the scramble to make a narrative, his opponents have engaged and trusted people and information comparable to Birtherism. It can and has damaged the credibility of the press to be proven incorrect and misled time after time.
The result is similar to crying wolf; aster a year of hyperbole and confirmation bias followed by correction and clarification have armored the President from future, possibly more accurate, accusations.
By casting Buzzfeed as a paragon of journalistic integrity, you set up the Times for another blemish, and Mr. Trump to proclaim another "big win."
1
I think you fail to understand that an op-ed piece is the opinion of one person...the author. So you can try to slime the Times, but most of us understand the different parts of the paper (news vs. opinion).
Further, you are confusing the need to ask obvious questions about possible crimes with "the scramble to make a narrative". Those who don't ask questions and attempt to hide information are the ones hurting this country.
4
Its hardly defamation to state that an opinion published by the Times has tacit approval. You do not have to agree with an opinion to approve it. An appeal to the group and an attempt to shame does not change the observation; The times taking seriously and defending Buzzfeed.
Further, the why is almost always more important than the what. Learning about the source and motive of information compared to making decisions and asking questions that take the position that accusations are relevant. Reminds me of the old "do you still beat your wife" trap. The seriousness of an accusation does not merit anything if its nature and structure is questionable. A politically motivated and financed opposition research document compiled by a foreign agent in the nebulous and unknown world of intelligence using unknown sources from yet another foreign nation. Id appreciate more investigation into the nature of this dossier than "asking obvious questions" based on the assumption they have merit.
The "dossier", and the 312 page testimony by Glenn Simpson, are critical tools with respect to learning more about Trump's finances and investment history with Russian. There certainly appears to have been a lot of money-laundering, by or related to Trump and his operatives, going back many years. Maybe Trump is deluded, but correct with his analogy that he can shoot someone on 5th Ave and not lose voters, because he's gotten away with his cozy shenanigans for so long. Given his personality, I can almost believe that he doesn't understand the severe trouble he's caused himself for all that he's done. Then again, Trump knows well that he's been conning America for decades, so my guess is he has nothing to lose by continuing his con into the future.
10
Aww - con game - operatives - shenanigans? Really? Please - You're gonna definitely have to up your game, being from the West Coast and all. Oh and how's that $15 dollar an hour minimum wage thing goin up there?
I consider it outrageous that the GOP would try to go after a British spy who tried to alert the authorities to a possible plot against the US. Having said that, I am also mindful of the recent Trump approval polls. Trump's approval has been rising steadily since mid-December and is now approaching 40% in the adjusted average of all polls on Fivethirtyeight. This boost has been going on all the while the talk of Trump's insanity and the Russia inquiry has intensified. The turn coincides roughly with the passage of the tax reform bill in Congress. This should tells us that personal attacks on the president are not working. It also tells us that the Democrats and anti-Trump forces are once again risking failure on their messaging on policy.
If the liberal opposition does not start focusing on policy, success in mid-term elections is far from guaranteed. We need to learn a lesson from 2016. Campaigning against Trump does NOT work. He really can say and do anything he wants and pay no political price among his supporters, apologists and the passive voters who swing randomly from one party to the other, guided by motives only God will know. The resistance has to mount a strong campaign on policy or fall.
110
The implication of this comment is that the only reason the enquiry is taking place is for political gain?
Trump's approval ratings before AND after the tax bill were hovering at 32-34%, not 40%. And the tax bill was only approved by about 25% of Americans. That's why 30 Republicans are heading for the exits ahead of the 2018 election. Believe me, the Republicans will pay for their lack of action regarding Trump AND their failure to pass a single piece of legislation that actually HELPS anyone not in the 1%.
3
Excellent comment. I'm of no allegiance to any party, franchise, or group with the exception of The United States. The reason I am not a member of a political party is that I don't need anyone to think for me, and I don't need to apologize for, or defend, anyone other than myself. It also allows me to approach the voting booth with my whole country in mind. To be honest, from my perspective, God only knows why any American's would get in the trenches and bloody or muddy themselves with either of the two main parties right now, both of whom are deeply flawed and blinded by partisan rage.
Well Mr. Smith, while you may be "proud" of what you have done, I think Carl Sagan's advice is instructive:
"“Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence.”
The only thing you can be "proud of" is getting "Extraordinary Claims" part down.
4
Looks like the FBI is willing to initiate spying on private citizens based solely on "extraordinary claims".
Or do they do that only when those individuals are aligned with their political opposition?
That is the real question.
2
If Trump is still standing after this dossier, Fire and Fury, Mueller's investigation and Inside Hollywood, God help us like he helped the people of Tokyo survive Godzilla and Rodan.
9
When Buzzfeed published the dossier, I read it several times.Trump has a long ugly history in New York and New Jersey, and the dossier just rang true, even if Brooke Gladstone from NPR called it a "dodgy dossier" because of some misspelled words.
15
Am I correct in thinking that the "golden showers" part of the dossier -- which was so widely reported -- was a relatively small part of Steele's findings? I think the press & media in general did a disservice in focusing on the more salacious elements of the dossier. Consequently, I think a lot of Americans were shaking our heads about the possibility of Putin having sexual "dirt" on Trump and were unaware of the financial and other person-to-person contacts between Trump's representatives and Russia.
11
Pride always goes before a fall!!
2
In helping to elect Trump as President the Russians certainly have managed to lessen the stature of the U.S. - not that Donald Trump will ever realize as much!
2
I believe once u make it to the top spot any dealings u have with any foreign entity should be transparent to the public. to think this administration keeps flip flopping about this particular issue raisies a lot of question. since I was once in law enforcement. I went by the credo that if it smelled and looked like a fish it was usually a fish. this administration is smelling real fishy
3
Congratulations on being on of the first. Now that we know that a lot of the dossier has been verified, I’d like to read it. It would be nice if you reprinted it.
5
Wasn't it already obvious that Trump colludes with the Russians? Doesn't anyone remember how he met with Russian spies in the Oval Office itself, barring the American press from attending? At that meeting, he revealed state secrets to the Russian spies.
7
Call me old fashioned, but I just don't see how complaints about the publishing of the dossier constitute anything but censorship mentality. The form was essentially, "Mr. Steele said..." No claim was made that the dossier contained proven facts -- neither by the dossier's author nor BuzzFeed -- and if the persons mentioned in the dossier want to dispute the content, their dispute is with Mr. Steele, not with Ben Smith. Talk about killing the messenger. As for journalistic responsibility, what would be responsible about decisions to withhold some information from the public while publishing other information? When news organizations do that, they mislead, abandoning their duty. The press has a let us down in many ways, for a long time. This seems a step in the right direction.
6
I remember watching Chuck Todd tell you that you just published “fake news”, and I thought then how incredibly facile. It was simple enough to enough to understand what the document is and how it came into existence. It’s unfortunate that many Republicans and their supporters continue to misrepresent the dossier, even though it is an excellent document. Chuck Todd did a disservice to journalism and your commendable reporting by his simplistic response.
5
The American people have a right to know that the man who was illegally elected as president, is a veritable criminal: money laundering, Mafia ties, collusion with our enemy, Russia, to name a few. The robust effort of the complicit Republican Congress to thwart , suppress and pervert the truth from coming out makes it more urgent than ever, that the House and Senate are flipped to Democratic majorities in 2018. Then, we can remove trump and his corrupt cohorts from doing further damage to our country.
7
This whole "dossier" business is a mess. Firstly, Buzzfeed should NOT have published it so early in the process. The author, Christopher Steele, had made that caveat. Secondly, the press has been far too speculative about all this, reaching conclusions with insufficient evidence. Thirdly, we must all be cognizant that these days emotions are more powerful than facts. It is just the way society has progressed at this point. We cannot change it, except at the grassroots level--starting with the children. For most adults at this point, it's too late. That requires facts to be carefully organized for the appropriate emotional impact. If the information is both well proven and feels compelling, it will do the job. Otherwise, it can be distorted and cherry picked out of context to suit the agenda and intention of any party.
Bottom line, from all we've seen, it's highly unlikely there will be any direct evidence of Trump communicating with Russian buddies on a disinformation campaign to discredit Hillary Clinton. He didn't need to, as they were already going to do it. Trump knew that Russia has great antipathy for Hillary Clinton. So no direct collusion would be necessary. Of course, it is possible some people within Trump's organization participated to optimize that effort.
The most critical point to prosecute will be the financials. Trump has been steadfastly opaque and resistant. THAT is where the real treachery lies.
3
It is just shocking that this GOP Congress is working so darn hard to discredit and hide evidence of dangerous acts threatening our national security.
There is no question the american people have every right to see what is in the Trump dossier and the Fusion's transcripts.
The GOP's efforts to suppress the truth is pure treachery!
6
There many very crucial issues facing us. Could we perhaps let Mueller finish his investigation and present the findings? This obsession with speculating using peripheral details is distracting from the govt. (and press) dealing with critical issues.
Having said that, I'm now going to also speculate: Its very difficult to prove blackmail. Its much easier to prove financial wrong-doing which is more likely to come out. As money that Trump borrowed was from Russian Oligarchs and therefore ill-gotten. (money laundering).
Also it should be easy to prove mental unfitness with a series of memory tests as Trump seems to have short-term memory loss.
3
Has there been a single occurrence of Trump actually speaking the truth?
4
When we talk about fake news there is only one basic truth: whatever Trump calls fake is probably true and whatever Trump calls true is probably fake.
4
GOP and the US president, hostile to an ally blowing the whistle on a foreign adversary interfering with our election...NOT to that foreign adversary or the interference with our election.
Just how low and unpatriotic is the GOP willing to go to put the party above everything?
3
Trump wont release his tax returns because they will show money going to Russia and thus to be laundered. Trump has probably paid very little if any taxes. He has sent money to various havens to be protected. In return he does not criticise Russia. Simply put its money laundering which is a crime.
Impeachment is not enough he is a criminal.
6
This is like John Grisham's book "The Pelican Brief" - Art Imitating Life.
2
Proud? Proud of what exactly? Publishing lies, publishing made up stories and fictitious events from less than imaginative minds. Then as a result of it, the world, well half of it anyway, went ballistic hanging all sorts of strange results from it.
1
Proud he can write this op-ed with a straight face and progressives swallow it whole with a smile even though he pleaded the Fifth over this whole thing in August during a House investigation hearing.
I think its pretty obvious the Russians have some serious dirt on Trump and possibly others in his orbit, including his son and son in law. That would explain Trump's meek deference toward Putin and all things Russian. We already know Manafort and Flynn were something very close to traitors for hire. They weren't operating in a vacuum.
7
It is probably best to keep the American public in the dark about Trump's putative crimes. It might get messy if we learn that Trump conspired against democracy, laundered dirty Russian funds (hundreds of millions plus), and obstructed justice.
4
Haven't we learned that, for vulgar bully Trump, anything even remotely critical of his depravity will be called 'fake news', no matter how certain the assertions, based on facts and empiric evidence. Trump, due to his outrageous and constant lies, has lost all credibility, at least to those willing to think for themselves and who are learned in the value of 'civics', and keep up to date with what's going on in politics.
3
Unquestionably real news because it is outrageous inflammatory untrue "news" misleading the public. This is the father of the Russian interference clap trap that the Democrats cling to. The Democrats surely must see that this nonsense gives credibility to the fake news narrative that Trump wants to spin. The Democrats have put themselves needlessly out on a limb. Mark Warner wants to investigate everybody who has visited Russia in the last 2 years who wasn't pro Clinton and censor the internet because of a he has no respect for the intelligence of the American people. The ridiculously poorly run Democratic campaign in 2016 has been a huge embarrassment that not only let Trump win the presidency but showed how neo cons like John Brennan could high jack Obama's foreign policy in Syria and Ukraine.
2
Release of the Fusion GPS transcript exposes the calculated complicity of Grassley and Graham to undermine the Mueller investigation. No wonder other Republicans on that committee are running for the hills.
18
Let me ask you this.
Suppose a Republican Senator leaked the transcript of a closed door interview with, say, Gen. Flynn.
Now on its face this would not be illegal, but like the actions of the California Senator, incredibly unprofessional and damaging.
Back to the hypothetical, with information being published other parties yet to be implicated or interviewed even now have insight into the nature of the questioning and the phrasing of the answers given. This would allow a guilty or duplicitous party to tailor or cooperate their story and answers.
Does that sound like a practice that helps or harms the efforts of these committees and investigations?
Mainstream media readers are missing something. The extreme right wing has connected an old chestnut, the mysterious death of Democratic staffer Seth Rich (killed by ?), to the recent statement about someone being killed because of the publication of the report.
It's brilliant - Take two red meat memes and link them to increase the effectiveness of both.
3
Without a name attached to the person alleged to have been killed because of the dossier, one IS left wondering who that person might have been.
I don't believe in making accusations before evidence is gathered, neither do I believe in excluding people who might be reasonably connected.
Absence of evidence for a conclusion is not the same as evidence of absence for a conclusion.
2
The GOP has made every effort to block the Russian investigation. What is more daunting is that the party would attempt to in effect help the Russians get away with their attempt to marginalize our democracy.
This investigation and its results are much more important than the Nixon fiasco. The Watergate investigation didn't involve a foreign power but was the Republican Party's attempt to hide a theft of Democrats' documents. Today's investigation is more serious because it has revealed that there is a large group of oligarchs worldwide (who have no allegiance to any particular nation) that are involved. There is some question that will be resolved about whether there are oligarchs in America who have colluded with the Russian oligarchs.
We must find out if American oligarchs are so bent on worldwide domination that they would sacrifice their own country, our country.
The money laundering part of this investigation is going to reveal the answer whether the worldwide oligarchs are willing to sell their countries' interests to gain power through their corrupt money.
14
SD presents a sound argument for printing again for viewership the actual dossier. Now, thanks to Senator Feinstein (fellow Senate Democrats take note of moxie), we have a clearer insight into the why's and how's. We have watched for one long year the blatant secrecy and maneuvering of a Republican Congress just as lacking in ethics and a moral compass as their leader who fulfills its self-serving agenda. This group needs to remember that they are voted in to represent all Americans, those of us who are in the majority and are neither affluent nor racist.
It is looking clearer daily that it is we who hold the cards for justice and fairness and equality. It is also more evident daily that the everyday citizen, you and I, are the real patriots.
11
"The F.B.I., CNN reported, used the dossier to justify its effort to spy on an American citizen"
We should all hope that the FBI did thorough due diligence as to the veracity of the report before starting to spy on this(these) individual(s).
It seems the writer is making the argument that by initiating the spying the FBI's actions make the dossier more legitimate. Some sort of endorsement of it's accuracy.
We need a lot more facts here.
2
Then you haven't been reading. Since. Last. Year. And 2015.!!!
1
Every bit of information into the particulars of Donald Trump's presidency is a wedge that will open the American mind to understanding why many of us don't feel he should be holding this office.
It will take the public a little time to digest the significance of it all as it did when Nixon's actions were being questioned. A dear friend threw me out of her house when I questioned Nixon's integrity but invited me back in when she understood that malice was not my intention. It will take time. Be patient.
3
Publishing the dossier without the more "salacious" allegations would have been a mistake.
It's not up to the publisher of an historical document to decide to suppress parts of it, based on social, religious, political or other subjective considerations. That is censorship, and would bring even more questions to the publication - what else didn't they print - than just printing it in it's entirety. Censorship of any kind in this context is a slippery slope. It could lead to the suppression of elements of the document that did not serve one side or the other, casting the entire publication in legitimate doubt.
Give us the information. We can decide what we ultimately believe about it based on our own experience and knowledge, and on analysis by varied and credible sources.
4
The problem Nancy is that you don't have the resources to determine if anything in the dossier is true, and to this point none of it has been verified by any intelligence agence and the dossier appears not to have been from a credible source. So how, pray tell based on your experience and knowlege (or lack there of) are you going to decide what to believe?
1
As I understand it, Buzzfeed published a caveat along with the dossier. It alerted readers to the fact that some of the information had not been substantiated. Thus forewarned, we, the public, read the dossier in a particular context, one to which we could bring skepticism and doubt, if we so chose. We were free to dismiss it entirely, as lies, trash, etc. Free to interpret it according to the perspective of its deniers and detractors, free to mull over its content. In a democracy it is assumed citizens are adults, capable of processing information, capable of critical thinking, capable of drawing conclusions. Censorship is frequently defended by those doing the censoring on grounds that are seemingly irrefutable-- national security, people will die, this document is politically skewed, it is not vetted. Buzzfeed and the Times cast a vote for freedom and democracy in publishing the dossier. Implied and the gesture was a trust that we citizens are up to the task of absorbing and making sense of the information.
7
Just saw Senator Elizabeth Warren and Senator Warner on segment of Morning Joe today. Senator Warner, a D/VA made very interesting observation about the amount of money the US wants to spend on military weapons vs. our awareness and commitment to protecting the country in cyberspace where we are being attacked by foreign powers who are fighting us on the world wide web.
Senator Feinstein was right to release the papers. As she said, the people have a right to know what is going on. It is unfortunate to say the least, that the search for the truth has become so political. There can be no cover up here and no partisanship. We need to know what is going on and protect each and every citizen in this country going forward.
30
The GOP conundrum is underscored in this op-ed: they chose to debunk a dossier at they also acknowledge was used by the FBI in pursuing its investigation.
As to the dossier, what we need investigated is the accuracy of its assertions. As to political issues, we need to investigate why the FBI was so mum about the Russia-Trump alliance during a campaign in which Trump publicly relied upon and benefited from data hacked and disseminated by
Russia.
7
Linda from Oklahoma says, in another comment, "something I found in the Fusion transcript is concerning--Trump's ties to organized crime."
Yes, the International Mafia is trying to take over the world and The Con Don is their talking head in The United States of America. Someone asked yesterday how four of his companies went bankrupt yet he still says he's very rich.
Casinos. Cash goes out the back door in truckloads and the "losses" are written off the taxes they don't pay.
Insatiable greed knows no bounds. Corruption is the tool of the International Mafia Top 1% Global Financial Elite Robber Baron/radical religion Good Old Boys' Cabal. Fortunately China and other countries around the world are taking it on, along with democracy-loving lawmakers and people across The United States of America.
This must not stand in America or the world. Not now. Not ever.
37
International criminals allied with the international oligarchs - whose groups are too overlapping these days, are the greatest threat, not only to this nation but to the entire world. They transcend nation states. They are busy looking for loopholes in every government and nation state. They are using the internet and every other lever.
If this alliance of EVIL is not stopped, we as a planet are in grave danger.
2
What did you make of Steele's admission that only 70-90% of the "dossier" is correct? Did you wonder which 10-30% is bogus?
2
Thank you, Mr. Smith. We are all indebted to you for your decision to publish this dossier. The truth and the facts must be revealed.
17
blockbuster journalism
I'm glad to read that you're actually calling what you're doing what it really is. There's no news in news nowadays, just sensationalism and alarm-ism.
2
"blockbuster" means very popular. It came into being in the olden days when box office lines for movies or plays in Manhattan produced lines that were so long they stretched around the block. It has nothing to do with what you say it does.
2
' “Are we in the midst of a major criminal investigation against the president of the United States as a result of this dodgy dossier?” asked Tom Fitton, a Trump ally, on “Fox & Friends” recently.'
No. "We are in the midst of a major criminal investigation against the president" because the so called president is corrupt beyond measure. If the sound and fury of republicans protesting the legitimacy of Mueller and the FBI is another indicator; so his his republican party.
For 50 years republican presidents have walked away from crimes and misdemeanors committed in the White House with impunity. Nixon might have been the most blatant criminal, but Reagan's crimes in the Iran/Contra affair, and W starting an illegal war should at least have been censured.
Instead, Bill Clinton gets dragged through an impeachment by a real kangaroo court of republican's doing and Obama spent years defending his legitimacy and his citizenship.
If republicans are still in charge of Congress next year America's democracy can be officially declared dead.
37
“Corrupt beyond measure”!!! Thank you, Bob!
1
The conclusion that strongly suggests itself here is that GOP in top offices wanted this suppressed not merely for the president but because they themselves will be found it to be entangled and collusive in this filthy mess.
26
I had no problem with the publication of the dossier. Certainly, if the shoe had been on the other foot, as it was for Mrs. Clinton's emails etc. Donald Trump would be praising BuzzFeed to the heavens.
Nevertheless, I may just be cynical, but I do not think Mr. Smith is some modern day hero journalist. He published to get all those great clicks. Same as most people in the business. My father told me, never forget, journalism is a business and businesses have to make money. Sometimes the nicety of scrupulous reporting takes a backseat to a great scoop.
If the public is served, eventually, when the whole truth comes out, it has a value.
5
The publication of this "dossier" and the hypothetical publication you suggest of Hillary Clinton's emails (should they become available) simply are not analogous. The Clinton emails would be the publication of FACTS, a simple expose of documents created by individuals in the course of their business. The "dossier" you reference is quite different. It has been proven that it was COMMISIONED (and funded) by the Democratic National Committee as an intentional piece of opposition research. Such a document must on its face be discounted and that is why the Obama administration exercised the good judgement it did not to release such an obviously biased set of "facts." Let's wait for the results of the Special Counsel investigation. Your comments include so much conjecture based on unsubstantiated things that you claim to be factual that you really need to be careful about the conclusions you draw.
1
True. Every act has multiple motives. Clicks are probably one. So is patriotism.
1
"It has been proven that it was COMMISSIONED (and funded) by Republican opponents to Trump's campaign as an intentional piece of opposition research."
There. Fixed your Fox News mistake. You're welcome. Get your facts correct before you start attempting to "correct" anyone else.
1
Release of the dossier, and now Glen Simpson's testimony, point (at least to me) the very real possibility that Trump was and is being blackmailed by the Russians. The blackmail would involve two unsavory items that have been either suggested or revealed as fact:
One, Trump's immeshed ties to Russian and Eastern European mobsters.
Two, the salacious encounters in Moscow with Trump and prostitutes, all caught on tape.
Why would Russia stoop so low, and inflame Russian-U.S. relations? The answer, at least a reasonable explanation, is that the Obama economic sanctions have had a devastating impact on Russian life, which imperils V.Putin's standing and, over time, could result in a collapse of his corrupt government.
The Trump campaign's efforts were focused almost entirely in helping the Russians by lifting the sanctions and thus shielding Trump from blackmail exposure. In exchange, the campaign made a deal with the devil.
Trump, in this narrative, is really not much more than a chess piece, done in by his unlimited self-regard and total immaturity.
33
"Two, the salacious encounters in Moscow with Trump and prostitutes, all caught on tape." and YOU have seen or heard that tape???
So often, you hear about this document, research or testimony. Then, everyone suddenly has an opinion on it, but virtually none of those opinionators, lay or professional, have actually read any of it.
For that reason alone, I was happy to see the document made easily available to all. I read it - I didn't swallow it whole-milk. But, much of it was substantive enough to have the ring of truth, pieces of truth the FBI and other intelligence pros have verified.
If there is something wrong with that, then we have truly lost our way.
I couldn't agree more with the premise that, if we keep news gathering and investigation a total secret, there will be less understanding and belief, not more. Trust the people to read and make up their minds wherever possible.
15
The contents of the Fusion GPS testimony shows that someone in Trump's own campaign team (George Papadopoulos) told an Australian diplomat in London came to the FBI's attention BEFORE anything.
The timeline is clear and shows treasonous intent by Team Trump to get into office--and GOP coverup of treason, which is tantamount to treason.
Welcome to the reincarnation of Vichy France.
16
I suspect that the story here is even bigger. We were treated very briefly with the news that the Russians had also hacked into the RNC server and had penetrated Republican leaders private accounts as well. Then the story shifted to Clinton and Podesta, and the RNC hack was dropped.
What did come out is that the Russians have been collecting dirt on Western leaders in government and industry for decades, waiting for them to rise to prominence. They have vaults of dirt. If Putin has Senator Grassley's and Senator Graham's private emails, if they have the dirt on these guys, it could explain the sudden and recent mysterious shift on their attitudes on the Russia investigation.
The Russians chose to support Trump because they feared Clinton continuing Obama's policy of punishing them for their expansion and interference with democratic governments around the world. They chose the Republicans because they had enough on Trump to sway his decisions and this will probably come out with the Mueller investigation, via money laundering and shady financing of his 'real estate empire'.
Work backwards, and not too far back in time, and look at what Graham and Grassley were saying and then look at their recent and baffling turn around on Russia. Maybe Putin's recent whispers in Trump's ear were his Senators. Maybe that was discussed when Trump and Graham played golf... Maybe we need another dossier or two...
34
Yes Bill Cullen, precisely.
Russian Intelligence (the same people as Russian oligarchs and organized criminals) have indeed been gathering potential blackmail on all sorts of American political and business leaders for a long, long time. No doubt we try to do the same, though we are more constrained by law, I'd guess.
Though this spying, to act as leverage to control one's adversaries is an ancient technique of intimidation and power --J Edgar Hoover was a master of this --the Internet Age and the hacking of private correspondence has been a boon for the gathering of "kompromat."
And so too has the Internet, with Mass and Social Media, been a way to disseminate these threats of blackmail and extortion. There are only so many kinds of criminal "hustles" and blackmail and extortion are standbys that will always remain popular. It is quite effective.
As you've noted, this is exactly the state we are in. Folks like Grassley, and particularly Lindsay Graham have made a large turn-around in their public posture about Trump and the Russian investigation. Their, or their donors, or their families emails and private lives were hacked along with anyone else that could be potentially compromised.
This is the background of which this investigation has to contend with. And because potential blackmail and extortion is the gangster way of doing things, it is entirely likely that TrumpCo is actively using this and other criminal technique to achieve their goals.
3
The only people threatened by the release were enemies of America. This still holds quite clearly. Turns out a lot of the enemies are right here with little interest in either democracy or the truth. It sure looks good for Russia right now doesn't it?
10
The fact that the FBI had just briefed President Obama and President-elect Trump about the dossier made its contents news that should be reported, especially after the U.S. had kicked out Russian diplomats and levied new sanctions on Russia for interference in the 2016 election. We now know the FBI was already acting on other reports before Steele delivered his document, yet the dossier's provenance and specificity were remarkable. Publishing it -- even with "unverified" attached to it -- was undoubtedly in the public interest.
13
Correction on the very first line. It's not simply known as "the dossier"....it is known as the BOGUS DOSSIER! About the only thing correct in it is that they spelled Trump's name right!
1
It amazes me how many readers are willing to put intellectual blinders on around a document proven to have been commissioned and paid for by the Democratic National Committee as an intentional piece of opposition "research." Research here of course refers to a document where fact and conjecture and outright fabrications are skillfully blended together to make them indistinguishable to produce a document with an intended negative impact. The public embrace of such an obviously non objective document actually scares me as it harkens back to techniques used in 1930's Germany to smear persons with concocted sets of "facts." Can a person's blind hatred of Donald Trump drive them to accept as fact such a questionable "dossier?" I guess it can.
23
Jeanne has apparently concluded her own in-depth investigation of the circumstances by watching Fox & Friends. Great reporting Jeanne!
11
You speak ex cathedra Jeanne as if Pope Faux News and EIB had appeared on your media devices and told you just what to say. You are a prophetess, a messenger bringing us divine insight from your Gods. Good luck with that.
6
If you are a person who, for whatever reason, seeks fame and fortune (often above and beyond empathy or caring for other humans or animals or the environment etc.) then, I've always thought, you no longer deserve a private life.
Indeed, in the age of the internet the very idea of privacy is fundamentally challenged and at risk.
So...If most of us men, hetero, homo, or other, have dalliances and "dark" secrets, we should assume we will have to deal with them in public at some point.
Indeed - Americans are appallingly hypocritical in regard to sexual issues. Affairs, adultery, children out of wedlock...this is one of the key features for the famous and the not so famous in the advanced European democracies.
Trump is a source of great tension, disappointment and damage to our country . He is helping to destroy our global environment, he is pro-gun in the worst of ways, he is a racist, a misogynist, and a billionaire greed machine par excellence, in effect stealing from most of us to feed himself and his billionaire oligarchs.
Hopefully the Steele Dossier will assist is this conman's downfall.
19
Yes, Mr. Smith and associates, you did a courageous and patriotic thing and Senator Feinstein did a courageous and patriotic thing when she released the transcript from the GPS hearings yesterday.
Thanks simply is not enough but THANK YOU for helping WE THE PEOPLE learn the truth and preserve/restore democracy in The United States of America.
21
This is the power of the Free Press....long live the Free Press!
22
There are no surprises in the released testimony -- just as there are no surprises in Fire and Fury. The real surprise is that no one in the Republican leadership says,"enough!" #TrumpsUp!!
11
Ben Smith: I'm Proud We Published Lies.
2
Codfish Jones: The Truth Hurts.
1
Desperate times deserve novel solutions!
Thank you@
4
The @ was supposed to be an exclamation point....
Publishing unverified facts and known errors is NOT what journalists do. Imagine if all media operated in this fashion, and the mess it would create in this country. All you did is put gossip out there, and open yourself to a very expensive libel suit since you knowingly put an error prone and unproven document in the public sphere. And you're proud? That is the definition of libel. Good luck defending that.
2
Did we read the same article? If parts of the dossier were in fact been corroborated before the decision to publish, then the public ought to know the contents of the dossier. More importantly, the fact NYT corroborated the veracity of the dossiers contents would suggest an absence of malice (a requirement for libel). And libel does not apply to public figures in the United States, even if statements made about the official are inaccurate. Taken altogether, thenNYT was right to publish the contents in full, and any of its potential inaccuracies.
1
Fake = Fox = Breitbart = politics...
Buzzfeed's approach was substantially different.... It said, in essence, 'let the readers decide'...
After the mendacious invasion of Iraq, after the 'Pentagon Papers', and after this dossier, it's clear that the search for truth is a difficult path to navigate.... Buzzfeed made a choice and, while it was risky, it turned out to be the correct choice...
The freedom to err, in good faith, is among our most important freedoms.
15
Whatever happens next, an incredible amount of damage has been done to the standing of the US globally and to its institutions and stability nationally.
Much of the damage, such as the addition of another $1.5 trillion deficit will be difficult but possible to solve,with a House and 2/3rds of the Senate controlled by Democrats determined to revisit the tax plan passed by Republicans and rewrite it as as a more progressive and transparent system. That damage can be undone, but environmental destruction, the lives of families effected by the sabotage of agencies such as OSHA and the FDA, and loss of trust in the stability of America, that will not be as easily undone. The idea of the US under a President Trump being in possession of nuclear weapons is seen unsettling as Kim Jung Un having a cache of ICBM’s.
If the Russians helped put Trump in the White House, this could represent their greatest success against their enemies since the defeat of Nazi Germany in 1945. Unfortunately, Americans appear helpless and in disarray. as Republicans defend their man, even knowing he’s the Manchurian president.
I suppose it’s too late for them. Once you decide to hitch a ride the tiger, you should know that you’ll be eaten should you fall off.
11
Amazing to me how a British intelligence officer has more concern about Russian infiltration of our government than any of our "law and order" Republican politicians. Grassley and Graham want to criminalize Steele and Fusion for alerting the FBI that international crimes against the USA were being committed. So how many rubles have these crooked Republicans been paid to disparage evidence of Russian interference?
This is bigger than any single political party. Republicans should be joining hands with the Democrats to protect our nation. But it seems Grassley, Graham and the rest of the GOP prefers nuzzling up to the Russians instead.
28
I guess we’re all still waiting for proof that there was collusion, or at the very least, influence. Still waiting..
4
Give us three years and endless callbacks of Trump to be interrogated under oath, by Democrats a la Benghazi, and, oh, we wont stop until we get the answer we want...or until the witness ends up showing it for what it is, a witch hunt.
Or...seven years, $70 million in tax money, and additional funding by rabid Trump haters, and I'm sure we can get Trump fibbing about a consensual affair. But yeah, this is only about a hostile adversary interfering with our elections and drawing in a candidate to do so while also illegally hacking into US Email servers...not nearly as dangerous to our country as a man fibbing about a consensual affair.
'Pubs are funny. Different standards for themselves, and remarkably low ones, and bizarre priorities!
1
Journalism is the first rough draft of history, and journalists do their best to publish the facts in real time. But, come on folks, it’s not the media’s fault if Trump is lying. It’s not the media’s job to prop up his, or anyone else’s lies. It’s their job to follow the money, including Trump’s taxes and business dealings. It’s their job to wave red flags when it appears that presidential candidates and Presidents seem to be compromised. And, as long as the media is not knowingly publishing lies with malice, they are not guilty of libel. In fact, these days, the main person who deliberately tells lies—lies that can be refuted with video clips and official transcripts—-is the President himself. In other words, the problem is our lying President.
11
The publication of the dossier was one of the most important events of 2017, and I applaud BuzzFeed for doing it despite all the turmoil it has caused. Transparency of the raw intelligence that drives so much decision making in Government is not only good, it is our right as American Citizens. If nothing else comes out of the collusion line of inquiry, the dossier will still have served the very valuable purpose of truly exposing the incredible, breath-taking hypocrisy of the GOP leadership. Day by day, I'm still stunned at their reaction, which is to hide the truth and attack the FBI and their favorite punching bag, the now long-deposed Clintons. Can you imagine the stink they would have raised if Hillary Clinton had won after having even one single covered-up meeting with a Russian contingent such as met in Trump tower? She would've already been impeached, and justly so. Thanks to BuzzFeed, we know their true nature--and it isn't fealty to We the People of the USA.
9
I'm glad that Buzzfeed did the right thing, by publishing information the people should know. I don't generally care for Diane Feinstein, but she was courageous to take this step, in exposing the 300+ pages of Fusion testimony. We know a lot more, today, and the Republicrooks' efforts to provide cover for tRump have been seriously stymied. I think we need some investigations into Senators Grassley, Graham, and Rep. Nunes, who seem to be complicit in the cover-up.
7
Occasional errors made in the cause of transparency are far more forgivable than high-minded coverups. In this spirit, UK newspapers often are out in front on US news. Perhaps that's why their daily press is far healthier and more competitive that ours.
9
If the dossier is "malicious fiction or pure political opportunism," then that will be exposed by the ongoing investigation. If Trump knows that's what it is, he should stop his wrangling over it. His actions, though, seem to indicate that he knows that's what it's not.
6
Since the Times reviews all these comments, here’s a suggestion. Could you not cull certain important documents that have come to light and are central to the Constitutional crisis of our times and make a button where people could access them?
Or better yet, could you make them into files that could be downloaded via Kindle or Nook or whatever - and highlighted or annotated?
Thanks!
2
"The Kremlin had been feeding Trump and his team valuable intelligence on his opponents, including Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton." It's perfectly clear that Mr. Trump is lying every time he barks out his mantra of "no collusion with the Russians." Sara Huckabee Sanders is lying to cover up for Trump every time she claims the dossier was "funded by a Democrat - linked firm that took money from the Russian government and created the phony dossier that's been the basis for all the Russia scandal fake news."
The whole thing is unfolding as if it were written by the Russians for Putin's own use in his country. I don't find it unusual at all that the dossier has been released. The idea that there are Republicans right now who are trying their best to undermine getting to the bottom of all of this really leaves me wondering how many others in our government are involved in covering up the whole mess? Trumps house of cards is looking as if it's about to tumble. Let's get him to testify or have him plead the 5th and be rid of this cancer on all of us.
7
I'm proud of YOU, Mr. Smith, for having the conjones to publish this incredibly true document. There are still some patriots left in this country and you are one of them.
9
The information given to the Trump campaign against Hillary Clinton has never been corroborated. Thus by the Trump campaign's standards it was always fake news. While the Steele information has never been completely substantiated we have far more corroboration about it than any of the Clinton Russian supplied leaks. That Trump and his operatives denounce the Steele documents now is to say the least pure hypocrisy.
3
Me thinks that, per verification, the dossier's revelations would be the swift kick to the head those who so willfully allowed themselves to be hoodwinked by our current incarnation of a monarch need to finally emerge from their group-think cocoon.
5
We're glad you published the dossier, too.
How else would we have learned the extent to which Hillary, Obama and the Democrats would go in using Federal government intelligence assets to harass and attack political opponents as the Democrats tried to cheat their way to victory.
The dossier will best be known for its role in exposing one of the dirtiest political scandals in US election history.
Perhaps Hillary will even be allowed to have a copy in her cell to reminisce over.
1
The dossier is worth reading. It was put together by an intelligence expert working for a non-partisan outfit. And consider this: at the time, no one expected Trump to win. So, the main concern being explored was that Russia was seeking to interfere in U.S. elections and found receptive, if naive, actors in the Trump camp. And, so far, those fears have been proven well-founded, as Don Jr‘s own email release shows.
4
Half of the dossier and Fire and Fury are true and that's good enough for me. An independent report by a spy and a man on the inside of the WH is enough "exposure" to prove that America is on the path to doom.
6
So far, members of the investigative committees haven’t found anything in the dossier that isn't worthy of further investigation. Nothing of substance has been disproven. This is why the Republicans are fighting so hard to suppress and discredit it. When a prosecutor charges an individual with crimes, often there are numerous counts and the jury decides which of those counts have enough credibility to deserve prison time. The charges are not kept secret. The dossier has given the American people an opportunity to begin to assess the guilt of the president and his associates. The dossier has proven to be a source for corroborating evidence, not necessarily the primary source of evidence. The fact that Republicans have gone to so much trouble attempting to discredit it only adds to its credibility.
7
Feinstein is my hero! Bravo! We need more courage in our elected officials, there has been previous little of that shown lately.
4
That's not exactly true. Nothing has been verified according to the FBI. And just who was killed???? And who in the Trump campaign supposedly assisted? When no names are supplied, there is no credibility.
I think it is clear why this investigation exists and should continue. I can understand why Donald Trump is displease with the investigation. I can't understand why Republicans like Grassley, Graham, Nunes, etc muddy the waters around the investigation.
3
To those who say the investigation is taking too long... it took 2 years for the Watergate investigation to be completed.
Mueller is being methodical and thorough as he should be. Let's wait and see what the results are.
3
As I read the editor's picks, the disappointment in the Republican party resonated with me. It was clear that the man with Roy Cohn as a mentor was not presidential material. Trump's questionable biography and temperament were evident before the election. Why the Republican party allowed Trump to be their candidate is a significant moral question for our time. As Trump refused to move from candidacy mode to governing, the complicity of the Republicans indicates further abdication of any moral compass. Now as I look at certain major Republican leaders, I see treasonous behaviors and obstruction of justice. Their behaviors of stone walling the Mueller investigation combined with legislating for the few have an excellent chance of destroying our country. Clearly the Republicans are not supporting justice and are not interested in serving in a representative government.
1
This feels so much like the turmoil when the Pentagon Papers were made public.
3
The dossier hasn’t been available to the public not because it contains any ‘national security’ concerns, but because it wouldn’t pass the smell test for critical thinking Americans. It’s much easier to frame and direct the narrative when the public is denied the ability to see the fact themselves.
Despite Senator Grassley's laughable claims about the release of the dossier imperiling the committee's access to witnesses, what the release of the documents prove is that the House Judiciary Committee investigation is a fraud. It has become an attempt to exonerate and deflect from Donald Trump's Russian connection rather than getting to the facts. It doesn't matter if the House committee suspends its efforts, it's a waste of time. What will probably happen now is that the Senate investigation committee will try to look more ethical - for a while.
3
Let's not forget that while some of the dossier information has now been "collaborated", ....since 2016 Trump has known the facts as he & the GOP mounted a non-stop campaign to discredit Mueller...plus as Trump Jr, Sessions, etc. stated they could not remember.
3
The Steele Dossier was a hit piece secretly paid for by the DNC and Hillary Clinton Campaign. Despite its obscured source and inability to substantiate large portions of this "dossier", Buzzfeed published it to get more hits and publicity. Ben Smith was rightfully widely criticized.
For all those many readers who buy into the justification that it was right to publish, where does one draw the line? Should every single piece of opposition research on any and every politician be published?
1
@nycdoc
“secretly funded by the DNC and Clinton campaign”
Common knowledge it was originally funded by
“Conservatives” ie: Republicans
Nice try, though.....
1
Plausible deniability may exist for the President, but it did as well for the Governor in Bridgegate. Hopefully he goes away before 2020.
1
Publishing the dossier, much of which had already been verified by the FBI at the time it was published, is akin to publishing the Wolf book. Some things might have been rumor or innuendo, or perhaps not the precise words of the actors, but represents the gist of the interaction. BuzzFeed made disclaimers that it did not verify the documents.
There is misinformation all over about the dossier. First of all, Mother Jones did a story on the dossier before the election. It was in fact information that could have been more available to voters. Second, the Times is now saying that Democrats paid for the info, when we know there was also Republican opposition to Trump involved. By saying that Democrats developed the info, the Times is now reflecting the governing party's line and suggesting that some things might be made up. Just a month ago, the Times was very clearly giving credit to both Republicans and Democrats for the info in the dossier. So what's changed?
When BuzzFeed published the dossier, Trump came out swinging. CNN basically told everyone where to find the dossier, and took the brunt of the Trump attacks, though BuzzFeed stills seems to be persona non grata. Is the Times concerned about being cut out? According to James Risen, the Times takes private calls from govt and edits its language, cuts its stories, to satisfy those in power. Could it be that the Times is responding to pressure when it now refers to the dossier as developed by Democrats?
2
There is no doubt the reports' author spoke with his sources. In that respect, the report is authentic.
But what is still subject to much doubt is what the author was told by his sources. After a year we have many reasons to believe the details are fake.
1
Only in this paper could something that has not been corroborated or proven to be true would be admired. You published opposition research from 4th and 5th sources and 99% has not been proven. This is a slippery slope and people need to get a grasp on reality. If you hate Trump, then you want to believe it but in this age of social media, this is equal to publishing rubbish to bring down someone that you don't like. The people thanking you for publishing this are part of the problem. There are no journalistic standards anymore. Do yourself a favor and do a report on all of the unsavory things the democrats did to secure the Presidency.
Thank you for publishing the dossier. To add to your justifications, Fusion GPS and Steele are credible, reputable professionals. Also, the FBI’s conduct during the election was opaque at best in Comey’s willingness to comment publicly on the Clinton emails, but not on what he or the FBI knew about Trump and Russia. And there’s also the fact that the U.S. government as the result of this tainted election, gerrymandering, voter supression and the electoral college became a one-party government with little interest -as we are still seeing -in getting to the bottom of what happened and preventing it from happening again. Somebody had to break the dam. The traditional media has been shockingly complacent in recognizing where we’ve been heading for quite sometime. And others like Chuck Todd, as a journalist, had a direct conflict of interest with his corporate employer which no longer supports an autonomous news division, but stood to benefit mightly for the Republican tax reform plan.
2
With certain influential senators circling the wagons around Trump, It makes me wonder if Putin has dirt on any of these senators. If I'm Putin and truly wanted to effect some change in our country, wouldn't you also target key folks in congress? I know this sounds like the stuff of fiction, but little is surprising me anymore.
1
Russian money, and organized crime appear to be the only way President Trump was a successful business man. This is what people put on a pedestal of business greatness?
3
I agree with those who point out publication was warranted since neither the dossier nor Mr. Simpson’s testimony were classified as far as I understand. Provide the information and let the readers interpret the content for themselves, notwithstanding the position stated in the 2012 Texas Republican Party Platform which states:
“Knowledge-Based Education – We OPPOSE THE TEACHING OF Higher Order Thinking Skills (HOTS) (values clarification), CRITICAL THINKING SKILLS and similar programs that are simply a relabeling of Outcome-Based Education (OBE) (mastery learning) which focus on behavior modification and have the purpose of CHALLENGING THE STUDENT’S FIXED BELIEFS AND UNDERMINING PARENTAL AUTHORITY." [caps or bolding mine] http://www.texasgop.org/wp-content/themes/rpt/images/2012Platform_Final.pdf
It’s a sad state of affairs when a major political party doesn‘t want its constituents to think critically or independently.
My thanks and appreciation for the Times’ continued enlightenment. Keep up the good work.
R. Galli
Edison, NJ
3
Mr. Smith, thank you for publishing it. I felt it was real news at the time and it has proven to be so. Please feel free to give yourself 100 self high fives.
3
The SAME people that are here today doing high fives and hyperventilating over the dossier are the SAME people that were here last week proclaiming the dossier had nothing to do with exposing "Russian Collusion". Last week it was all about George Papadapoulis a fiction based on news reports lacking any verification. If the Dems keep this up they will be back next week screaming about the Electoral College and Emoluments. Make up your minds, you're boring us and exhausting yourselves. Thank you.
1
A media defending fake news is like a police defending robbery.
This defending does raise a serious question: Why a fake news could draw so much attention, especially gove`s?
this is not fake news. This is crucial information, though perhaps flawed in places, RAW INTELLIGENCE - which a longtime SPY MASTER viewed as suggesting a crime in process!
1
Trump is his own worst enemy. His zeal in undoing as much of Obama's legacy as he can since taking office a year ago, reads as a personal vendetta against his predecessor, as was his excursion into the birtherism crusade prior to his announcement to running. So when reading in the Steele dossier of him hiring a couple of prostitutes to soil the bed his predecessor and wife slept in, rings true with the behavioral examples Trump has amply displayed before and especially since he entered office.
Trump however, is a symptom of the disease of moneyed influence infecting our body politic. Under the current corrupt system, candidates and even whole political parties are bought and paid for servants not of "the people", but for wealthy corporatists and individuals foreign and domestic. The reconfiguring of our democratic legislative system into serving primarily as an influence peddling racket for the highest bidder is both a direct assault on the rule of law and "We, the People". A prime example of how far gone this disease has become is seen in the active obstruction of investigations into Russian hacking and infiltration of our electoral process by one our two major political parties - not coincidentally. the same party responsible for the abomination currently occupying the White House.
2
Apart from the dossier itself, how can anyone forget Donald Trump's reply, "I love it..." to an email from a Russian business partner of Trump, Sr., who had been contacted by a senior Russian government official offering dirt on Ms. Clinton and the follow-up meeting, which include Kushner and Manafort, a few days later in Trump Tower one floor below where Trump was in his office. And then there is the fact that Trump, Sr., on Air Force One personally dictated a misleading statement for Trump, Jr. to describe that meeting. The Trump family reeks with dishonesty and corruption. But for the press, our nation would be in even greater danger than it is from the national security threat sitting in the White House.
10
Worth noting--at the end of the transcript of Simpson's testinomy, released by Senator Feinstein--both Simpson and his lawyer want assurance that the transcript will be kept confidential, ie, not released.
The Committee tells him they can't promise that.
But just the other day, in an op ed here in the Times, you've got Simpson "demanding" that the transcript be released.
This guy turns on a dime.
2
Yes—it’s interesting how one will turn on a dime when the accused criminal in chief begins having him investigated for “crimes”.
2
Also worth noting, this guy "turned on a dime" after Republicans on the committee began selectively releasing parts of their testimony in an effort to mislead and misconstrue. So what exactly is wrong with letting everyone see it all?
3
I have no problem with everybody seeing everything.
But Steele himself, on courtroom testinomy in the UK, said his information should not be taken at face value and needed to be verified.
3
And yet, even with this information the GOP continues to defend a president who is sorely lacking in self control, government and political experience, and who has no understanding of how anything works. Trump is everything the GOP could wish for: a rabble rouser, a loudmouth, and the perfect distraction to obscure what the GOP is up to: dismantling every aspect of the country save those that serve the richest corporations and families in America. The party that called Americans who opposed the invasion of Iraq unpatriotic has no problems being unpatriotic itself by putting party and power over the well being of country and citizens who aren't rich.
13
I, too, am proud that you published the dossier. Bringing the truth to light is almost always a good idea, and fraught with danger. In the end this piece of information has made a major difference in how we see our President and that is a good thing.
Thank you, Diane Feinstein for bringing forth the testimony about how and why the dossier was created.
Now, Americans, what do we do now?
15
We vote, march, protest (the march and protest may very well be essential if the GOP and Trump fire Mueller to keep him quiet.
2
Diane Feinstein and Christopher Steele and Glenn Simpson- you did a great job digging into the truth about Russia and Trump!
34
Did it ever occur to you that the contents of the dossier may have been largely fake news from Russian intelligence in order to sow chaos and discord in America and weaken us from within?
7
@rpe123
Jacksonville, Fl
So why did the FBI essentially say "Yes, we know" when Steele (concerned about what he was finding) passed on this information to his contacts in the Bureau? Perhaps the FBI are not as gullible as you?
10
No, because far too much of it has been confirmed!
There are, from many sources now, evidence of Trump campaign involvement with Russians -- financially, electorally, policy-wise -- far too many to ignore or dismiss as "fake news".
3
In their testimony to the Senate committee Fusion GPS specifically noted Steel's great strength was his long experience in sorting planted propaganda from facts.
1
The Obama Administration knew that the Dossier had been commissioned by the DNC and Clinton Campaign. It used the FBI and intelligence agencies to spy on the Trump Campaign using the Dossier as justification. The NYT made no secret of its liberal bias and its own anti-Trump campaign. The Mueller Investigation is now using the Dossier as a basis for its own What Happened analysis, and providing internal Trump documents to DNC operatives. Finally the DOJ is starting to investigate the Clinton Campaign and Obama Administration for its unAmerican activities. Why would anyone suspect that the communist leader would prefer a strong capitalist negotiator to a weak socialist security risk, unless they had another agenda.
3
@John Q Dallas
Dallas, TX, USA
Er...the FBI were already aware of possible illegal activity by the Trump campaign when the contents of the dossier were made known to them by Steele. This is probably the main reason why Republicans in congress were trying to prevent publication of Fusion's testimony. Unfortunately, totally blind partisans like yourself are the real threat to US security.
10
It was Jeb Bush who kicked off the investigation into Trump and he is a Republican, last time I checked. Investigating possible treason should be a bi-partisan priority.
5
Can anyone use "unamerican activities" without intentionally alluding to McCarthy? Is that where you want to go?
In answer to your last question, capitalist/socialist is the wrong axis, strong/weak are mere assertions.
Trump is more easily manipulated. He's visibly manipulated by Fox News; we see that in his tweets. He is manipulated by money; that's his life story. And, whatever you may think, he's none too bright. Even if that's not so, many believe it, and it's easy to believe the Kremlin believes it.
Russia can't weaken the country by sowing discord. Discord, after all, is just the word the powerful use to describe political speech they don't like. Those not in power never describe their opponents' speech as discord.
Russia has weakened the country by helping elect a feckless buffoon manifestly unready to execute the job of the presidency. We are suffering from lack of leadership and contra-leadership.
5
Congratulations. Well done.
4
Thieves and liar are always proud of their actions.
2
Sometimes. Trump publicly bragged that not paying taxes meant he was "smart".
4
No, we're not. All humans tell lies of some size (sorry for the unintentional rhyming), but few brag about it. Think before you publish.
I just read that Trump's "Roy Cohn II" lawyer has just filed a defamation suit against GPS and BuzzFeed. I hope the ACLU will take up their defense, and if not, I hope they start a publicly financed fund to ensure not only a good defense, but a defense worthy of the little litigious man who currently occupies the White House. I would also think that a massive counter-suit is in order. Perhaps a billion dollars? After all Trump can afford it. Well, at least he'd like us to think so, as he never released his tax records.
I wish both GPS and BuzzFeed a solid victory.
With any luck Trump will be in an orange jumpsuit before it ever goes to trial.
BTW: How does one defame the already infamous?
14
As Intel chief Clapper, no friend of Trump testified , the DNC financed Steele dossier had errors of fact and was impossible to be verified. This was the basis for the multi million dollar investigation by an army of Trump hating attorneys armed with electronic surveillance, warrants and supoenas. As the kabuki theater of collusion went up in smoke, it mutated into let's get someone for something. Two guys got indicted for things that happened years before Trump was a candidate unrelated to the campaign. This is what the Times is proudly promoting? Tragic.
7
Good post, and I'm a Obama-loving Democrat. (All humans are imperfect, thus capable of committing egregious errors. Neither side has a lock-and-key on truth or good judgment.)
So proud the GPS Fusion boys pleaded the Fifth when first questioned about the dossier during a Congressional committee investigation.
http://www.cnn.com/2017/10/18/politics/fusion-gps-partners-plead-fifth-b...
Two op-eds in a row in two days touting GPS Fusion as being as pure as the wind-driven snow. I hope the NY Times knows what it's doing? It's staking its whole reputation on the Grand Russia-Trump Conspiracy being true. If it turns out a bust, it will be very hard to take the NY Times or the mainstream media seriously again for a generation at least.
8
Oh it is true and Trump knows it. I’ve never defended myself against nonsense and yet he is SO defensive,
2
And if the Times is correct, will you stop watching Fox News?
2
the Times has no credibility when it comes to Trump. Multiple op-eds a day smearing him. As well as "news" pieces and "news-analysis."
Why do I feel like the Koch Brothers might be paying off the GOP to prop up this cartoon character of a President? I don't think the GOP is unpatriotic. I think they are being paid off so someone gets laws passed...but, heck, it is just a hunch that this runs deep...
9
what we now know for sure thanks to Buzzfeed and Diane Feinstein
is that the GOP has been lying since jump street
Steele alerted the FBI because he thought he observed a
"crime in progress."
Sen. Feinstein's move undressed Grassley and Graham
as charter member of the Trump Lie Factory and Protection
Society
word
14
The problem isn't fake news, the problem is a fake president.
21
In the days leading up to the election you published substance-less column after column about Clinton's emails while credulously publishing leaks from the Hillary haters at the FBI that the Russian connection was not serious. Yes, when given the information about the dossier, you published it but it was hardly an act of great journalistic valor.
9
If as you have written, “Russia’s goal all along has been to do damage to America and our leadership role in the world.”, why did you not take issue with the "reset button" and sale of uranium to them under the Obama Administration?
8
Dude, inform yourself of the details of the uranium deal. For one thing, no uranium can leave the country. No legitimate group who looks into this matter sees any wrongdoing. (FOX and Rush are not legitimate.)
2
Hats off to BuzzFeed, the only news outlet brave enough to run the dossier and this: the story of the dead guy at the Russian consulate in NYC on election day. This isn't some cloak-and-dagger Netflix series, folks; unless this administration is unseated and fast, we are all toast. Keep it up, BuzzFeed, and step it up, NYT.
https://www.buzzfeed.com/alimwatkins/the-strange-case-of-the-russian-dip...
17
I'm anti-Trump, too, but we have thus far lasted a year under this ignoble regime. We're 325 million people strong; it takes more than a gonzo president to destroy what we've built and who we are. Keep the faith. The sky ain't falling.
You were right to publish it and I Chuck Todd's of this world need to learn that when you are in agreement with a pathological liar you need to reconsider your position. I believed this report when I read it. It fits the character of Trump, no respect for the law and no morals. FBI should have announced they were investigating Trump as well when they said they were investigating Hilary Clinton.
12
Someday whatever Trump is hiding by not releasing his tax returns will be revealed because those tax returns dovetail with the dossier. The Trump life of leaks, spies, Russian attorneys, hidden payments, prostitutes, bungling sons, tweeting, grabbing, loans from oligarchs, beauty pageants, Russian adoptions, soured bromances, ramblings, Big Macs, golf, and lies upon lies upon lies.
22
Good work, good courage, good citizens. Expose the Traitors.
11
Evil can't last. Truth will out. God is on His or Her throne, and all is right in the world. Or so my drunk Uncle Bob once said before passing out.
Libel:
a : a written or oral defamatory statement or representation that conveys an unjustly unfavorable impression
b (1) : a statement or representation published without just cause and tending to expose another to public contempt (2) : defamation of a person by written or representational means (3) : the publication of blasphemous, treasonable, seditious, or obscene writings or pictures (4) : the act, tort, or crime of publishing such a libel
Make your argument in the Court of Law not Public Opinion.
5
"Libel is a written defamatory statement, and slander is a spoken or oral defamatory statement."
Libel vs. Slander: Different Types of Defamation | Nolo.com
www.nolo.com Defamation, Slander and Libel
[Most sources that I find insist that libel is for written statements only. Your sources, however, may well disagree; it's difficult to nail down a lot of stuff.]
“We strongly believed that publishing the disputed document whose existence we and others were reporting was in the public interest.”
Start with being honest if you want us to believe you. You published that “disputed document” for clicks and advertising revenue. Period.
11
I suspect it’s much more complicated than perhaps you’re able to understand. Conspiracy theories aren’t helpful. Maybe keep them to yourself next time.
1
The trasncript of Glenn Simpson's testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee on August 22, 2017 was released today (January 9, 2018) by Sen. Diane Feinstein.
That testimony shows that Senator Grassley is the liar. Not only is the testimony NOT "unresponsive" (as characterized by Sen. Grassley), but it also shows that Christopher Steele, a former MI-6 Russian expert, decided that he had uncovered a possible crime in progress, and that he needed to (and did) inform the FBI of that situation.
For Sen. Grassley and Sen. Graham to send a "referral" to the Department of Justice to start an investigation of Christopher Steele is now LAUGHABLE ON ITS FACE, and shows how despicable these two FAKE AMERICANS really are. They will stoop to any depth to try to besmirch an honorable man in the service of the sel-proclaimed "VERY STABLE GENIUS" (otherwise referred to as Der Fuehrer Drumpf, the would-be tyrant).
Christopher Steele, a Brit, is a better American patriot than either Grassley or Graham. They should BOTH resign in disgrace.
36
We're proud we published something completely made up. We have zero credibility. We're the Dan Rather of the internet.
7
It seems you, like too many, skip over the several mentions about how the FBI had separate independent intelligence, apart from the Dossier, that verified and corroborated many of Steele's revelations.
Your Dan Rather characterization would fit better lobbed at Murdock's foreign owned Faux News where uranium, byzantine conspiracy flow charts and falsehoods spew like Mt. St. Helens circa 1980.
2
Ironically, your comment is made up, since not only do you have no way of knowing it was made up but you simply declare it was, all evidence so far is that the vast majority of it is factual, which you just ignore.
As for your snide Dan Rather comment, professional journalists make mistakes and own them, as Rather did. Your standards for Rather are, interestingly, a lot higher than they are for, say, Breitbart or FOX (where is Hannity's resignation for, say, insisting the DNC had Seth Rich murdered?). Whenever someone has higher standards for one person/entity than another, that means they have more faith and hold that person/entity in more esteem.
Might want to re-examine your arguments. Or at least TRY to apply universal standards.
2
Glad you published! Go Buzzfeed
3
Trump should sue Buzzfeed.
1
It's hilarious when commentators on Fox and Friends try to interject British words and expressions such as 'dodgy dossier'.
2
It's also interesting that none of these Trump defenders provide any sourcing for their speculative assertions. It's because they can't link to talking points they saw on TV.
3
Too bad that impeachment is so slow and so unlikely.
3
If this preposterous idea that the Russian's won the election for Donald Trump then it was the worse intelligence suicide in the world. Because thanks to them, we now have a roaring economy, record unemployment, fewer foreign distractions (bye, Isis!) and are in a much better state to face off against Russia than a year ago. As I cash in on my upcoming tax rebate, get to chose my own doctor again, and count my increasing fortunes, I ought to say: Spasiba!
3
This is why the cult followers of the orange reptile won’t be persuaded that they were duped. All they see is what they perceive as financial windfalls for themselves. They are happy to let the environment be polluted, at least 1M deportations of productive people, education, housing and climate in ruins. The craven repubs in congress will not impeach no matter what Mueller uncovers.
VOTE in 2018. It’s our only hope of recovery from this damage to our country
1
OK, I read the article but learned nothing. Rather than use valuable space in this newspaper to carry on about a dossier that may or may not be fake news, give us some usable information. After a year, what elements of the dossier remain in question? which elements have been verified? That would be real reporting.
9
Sunshine is the best disinfectant.
Senator DiFi just published the Senate Testimony from GPS Fusion's Glenn Simpson. Since the GOP would not, she did.
Here is the PDF from her official website.
https://www.feinstein.senate.gov/public/_cache/files/3/9/3974a291-ddbe-4...
6
Ten years from now we will be laughing about how easy it is to fool the people.
2
"Fake but accurate." Maybe Buzzfeed should have that above the masthead.
4
I love the "some elements of the dossier have been documented" narrative. So it's 99% fake, but the fact that the irrelevant 1% is true legitimizes the whole thing? This is why half of the country doesn't trust you and why The Donald will win again. Keep digging that hole!!!
4
So publishing lies and other totally unsubstantiated gossip is now okay? It shows the depths to which journalism has sunk that someone like Ben Smith believes he didn't do anything wrong in publishing them. It used to be that REAL journalists verified information before disseminating it. Now, with the extreme cases of Trump derangement syndrome, many are willing to believe the lies people like Ben publish. Ben's "insight into the forces at play" are showing the lengths to which democrats, and their allies in the media, will go to try to overturn a proper and fair presidential election. This is the left trying to turn the USA inti a banana republic.
now, with
4
I read parts of the dossier, so it seems long ago. If a man rented the bedroom where a former man and his wife, Barack and Michelle, rented the suite, in a Moscow hotel room, and this man, Trump, who asked to stay the night in which Barack Obama and his wife had slept in that very bed, and Trump and his 6 "ladies of the night", performing the Golden Shower routine on that very same bed that to me is unspeakable. Talk about desecration! Trump no longer belongs to the human race. He is a non person consigned to have never existed in the annuals of humankind.
1
Hm? Am I missing something because everyone from CNN to MSNBC to FOX have not been able to verify the validity of everything in the dossier.
The only thing that has come out so far is some people were doing some shady business with overseas countries but so far nothing points out how the Russians could have stole the election. Unless those Ruskies have tampered with the election machines, stealing the election if a fairy tale.
Now go out and find real things that I can throw apples at Trump...not made up theories. I always feel like Mark Twain, ready to take it to any politician - be they Dem or Rep.
http://www.politifact.com/florida/statements/2018/jan/05/elizabeth-foley...
Mr. Smith, according to you it seems that your decision to publish the dossier has overwhelming merit; however would you have written an op-ed apology if the decision had proven to have little or no merit? Are we to congratulate you for not doing the hard work that underpins reliable journalistic reporting? What if there were no New York Times or Washington Post et. al. to backstop BuzzFeed's decision post publication? I appreciate what has been accomplished with the dossier. I don't appreciate BuzzFeed's disregard for journalistic integrity for the sake of a scoop.
1
Thank you Mr. Smith!
2
Traditional media, including the NYT let us down badly in 2016. You played up the Clinton emails, went easy in Trump, worked with Wikileaks, and still you dispute th3 dossier, critize Wolff’s expose book, sometimes pretend Trump is for real with the publishing of every tweet most often without a side by side factual explanation or more often rebuttal. You and others allow him to take all of the air out if the news cycle day after day.
You don’t do any reducing of the incessant lying on Fox News.
What are we paying you for?
4
Good show! Keep up the good work and keep the heat on Trump and his sock puppets!
4
I notice they don't like to talk about the fact that the Hillary campaign funded said dossier.
3
Because it didn't. And here again, we have a right-winger using totally different standards. It's bad for the Hillary Clinton and the DNC to do the usual LEGAL opposition research...but there is NOTHING wrong with TrumpCo sitting down with a hostile foreign country to ILLEGALLY coordinate campaign strategy, not to mention the lack of outrage from the right wing over a hostile foreign adversary illegally hacking into US emails in order to throw our election. Remember when you guys were so alarmed and hearts were palpitating out of fear and rage that a hostile foreign adversary "could have hacked into Hillary's email!!!!"??
Silliness, but mostly dishonesty rules on the right. Too obsessed with partisan warfare instead of country welfare.
3
credibility of the dossier is not based upon who paid for it, it's based on the credibility of the person who authored it. Given the author was a highly regarded intelligence officer with expertise in Russia AND the fact that he was willing to share his work with and have it scrutinized by the FBI lends the dossier an air of credibility
1
Just when I can’t stand it anymore and I’m ready to cancel my beloved Times subscription you guys come through. Please get his taxes, it can’t be that hard. And thank you Senator Feinstein.
7
Oh, hum. I read about this almost exactly a hear ago...Get real.
1
Thank you a thousand times Buzzfeed for publishing the dossier, and for taking the mudslinging after and sticking to your guns I read it immediately when it came out and said "this is the only thing that makes sense of everything." Of course it needed to be published! As did the transcripts today c/o Sen. Feinstein. You are heroes!
2
You only published it because you did not like the results of the election. That is the truth.
2
All this work and it really changes nothing.
Old, stale news.
1
We are all quite busy psychoanalyzing the mess that is Donald Trump. I, for one, can only wonder what kind of crippled self- esteem someone like Lindsay Graham must have. Before the election, he is a snide critic of Trump. Then he plays golf at Mar-a-Lago and turns into a lying, unprincipled Trump supporter, proposing a lawsuit against Christopher Steele. What kind of broken self-image turns this kind of person into a colluding traitor?
5
Well just seems to me that journalism becomes "important" when someone you dont like is in power. I doubt we would ever see any dirt on an acting dem president by buzzfeed unless the public already knew about it.
2
We see “dirt” on Hillary being discussed every day on Conservative “news” outlets.
1
I do not feel that way...nor do I think that any patriots would; use light to get rid of the mold...
4
how many readers have actually read that document ? What I do understand is that a good man named Christopher Steele tried to warn America of a major threat to it and then a publication named Buzzfeed courageously published it . I say publish such thing in full . Otherwise it seems Senate committees use their political power to stifle the truth .. something like is currently happening in Congress and the Senate. Yeah right, all these villains around and what Republicans do is try to jail the guy who tried to help us ( Mr Steele) and the publication that had the courage to make Steeles good work public in Buzzfeed. The thin veneer of Democracy is a grave risk and I thank those willing to be the good guys like Steele and Buzzfeed and Mueller
11
The link to "secret testimony" was broken just now. Says on p 8 it is unclassified; therefore, not secret - merely a little redacted and had been withheld from the public by the Republicans on the committee. I read most of it last night, Simpson's details and grace under pressure shed light on the background. BTW it was noted in the messages from Steele that the most salacious "Golden Shower" story might not be fully credible.
New to me and interesting:
- Browder's weak credibility, and Simpson's minor role in the showing of the anti-Magnitsky film at the Newseum
- BIG : a HUMINT (human intelligence) source within the Trump org or campaign who confirmed some of Steele's HUMINT and was concerned about national security risks
- Steele came to mistrust the FBI and stopped dealing with them after Comey re-opened the Clinton email investigation just before the election. He was concerned about possible manipulation of the FBI by the Trump people.
- Simpson pointed out that Natalia Veselnitskaya knew little English. Surprise to me.
2
What if the dossier had been debunked? Then all your justifications for releasing uncorroborated information would evaporate.
Yes, and if my cat had wheels she'd be a bus. The dossier is real. They had good reason to believe so. They were right.
2
The judgement call on decisions to publish something to a large extent depend on the credibility of the source. Given Mr. Steele's experience and background he was deemed to be a very credible source not some quack looking to make a splash. Given the stakes involved to the country on what was being reported, they made the right decision.
2
But it hasn't been.
3
The proper reaction from Trump upon learning about the Russian attempt to meddle in our election should have been strong concern and 100% cooperation to help facilitate the investigation. Instead, Trump has resisted this notion with every fiber of his being and has attempted to OBSTRUCT the investigation many times (not just firing Comey, but continuously generating fake news against it). Why? Because the Russians were helping him. If you read his "Art of the Deal," you will understand how he is the consummate exploiter/opportunist and morals or integrity won't stand in his way of prospering. THAT is who we have as president. And his behavior telegraphs so strongly on the Guilt-o-meter, it's not funny anymore.
10
What's really funny is that the existence of this dossier and the knowledge of who paid for it does prove collusion with Russia in order to influence the 2016 election. However, the collusion wasn't a Trump/Russia collusion,, but rather a Clinton/Russia collusion designed to derail the Trump campaign.
Of course some of the material within the dossier is factual all good works of fiction include some truthful elements, and none of the things stated as factual data points have any relevance regarding Trump.
There is no such evidence, and it seems that the political impetus was neutral. Read Simpson's testimony if you care to.
2
Terrorist often claim they are proud of the damage they have done to the United States, six of one , a half dozen of the other.
Some of us realized it's value when it was published. Thank you BuzzFeed.
5
After a year and nothing of substance having come from this story, isn’t it now questionable that it was real news? And aren’t we now at a place when we call news that is not real fake news?
Two guilty pleas and more indictments, as well as the morphing of many defense stories is "nothing?" Mr. Confused, you confuse me.
2
No, if we’ve learned anything, facts are called “fake news”. There are literally 100s of examples of this from Trump’s own mouth.
2
Congratulations, I’d call it a Public Service of the highest order.
5
Trump 2020
Mr. Ben Smith, you can be proud of anything you want, but in half of the country, nobody cares what you or any other Democrat thinks. We know the difference between agitprop and journalism. We know Trump beat Hillary, in spite of all the collusion and rigging that went on ON THE DEMOCRAT SIDE, because millions of us went out and voted for him. We know that more Democrats in power equals more governmental overreach.
We need a Wall, a big beautiful wall, around flyover country.
2
Yeah, and as a kid I was really proud of long, loud, rolling belches. I understand him.
It's scary to read some of these posts. It's hard to believe anyone can justify the dossier and accuse Trump of collusion. Here's the facts for you ideologues. The DNC and Clinton hire Fusion GPS who hires Steele who gets dirt on Trump from the Kremlin. This dirt in the form of a "dossier" was released by Buzzfeed after all of the major intelligence agencies discredited it. Credible evidence suggest that Comey, Strzok, and "Andy" conspired to keep Trump out of office and used the "dossier" as justification to spy on him and investigate him for colluding with the Russian. In addition, Obama knew the Russians were fooling around with the election process early last year yet did and said nothing. I've never seen this level of corruption in this country in my entire life. I'm 66. I could go on, but I doubt this will mean anything to many of you. Anyone who can rationalize this rampant corruption is in a state of denial and clearly lacks any critical thinking skills much less thinking skills in general. The fact that this happened to Trump is irrelevant. The fact that it happened is.
Whatever happened to the liberal mantra of "acceptance and tolerance"? Whatever happened to the "Will of the People" and patriotism? One things for sure. The DNC and Clinton political machine precipitated the chaos we've had to deal with for the last year. That's precisely what Putin wanted. Congrats Hillary for a job well done.
Jeb Bush first asked for the investigation. Stop trying to distract us from the truth by saying “Hillary”.
2
Whatever happened to providing links to sources for all of this supposed "credible evidence"?
Read the testimony.
2
Sometimes journalists have to go out on a limb to serve the greater good.
Good on you, Ben Smith.
5
Complete tripe. The dossier was a paid product from start to finish, it’s contents breezed-over solely for whether it’s salacious contents would fly, both with cherry-picked media, and the FBI. Zero verification. The claims for publishing on grounds of public interest are laughable, not to mention plain ridiculous, especially since Fusion pocketed millions of dollars in fees. Paid by a disgruntled loser, the Clinton campaign, not to mention the fast-fading Democratic Party, no trick left in their book for national significance other obstruct, accuse, and obfuscate.
It’s clear Fusion is screaming on their way down (to courts daily). Won’t work. They need to sing. Yes, about the Clinton Campaign’s involvement. Yes, uncompensated, so their current reluctance is understandable. We’ll stay tuned, nonetheless.
1
obviously you haven't read Simpsons recently released testimony
2
You must keep up the good work. We need an honest press that reports even the bad things our president is involved with. I credit Diane Feinstein a whole lot because Grassley and republicans were releasing only details that made the dossier sound questionable. And the fact they are now going after Steele is proof that they are willing to cover up anything for their party. Shame on them. Similarly, something that is rarely mentioned is that the GPS Fusion investigation was first started by the republican party because they did not want Trump to be our president. Only after he got the nod did the democrats finance it.
4
They protest too loudly! Like “Fire and Fury” the dossier evoked unprecedented denials from the White House. How much better for them to say “no comment”. Where there is smoke their is fire - Trump promised “fire and fury” on N Korea and now it’s raining down on him.
2
Yup, folks, idiocracy has established itself in America.
BuzzFeed is considered a news organization and Oprah and The Rock are running for President.
But I give you that, America: it is really entertaining.
2
Facts are facts. There have been connections between Russian real estate"investors" ( read: money launderers) and Paul Manafort for, lo, these many years. And Paul Manafort was not "some guy bringing coffee" to the Trump campaign. He was the campaign manager. The inference that there was a "connection" between the Russian government and the Trump campaign, with intention to mutually benefit both Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin is really not the hard to make.
7
"Keeping the reporting pricess wrapped in a mystery" is exactly what the president and Republicans intended to do. American citizens have every right to know if their democratic electoral process was compromised by a foreign power. Fascism is gaining traction in America.
2
Where's the beef? It's been how long? Over a year and still no one particular bit of evidence has been shown to thoroughly prove collusion. Where are the legal charges of wrongdoing, indictments, impeachment, etc...? Just more basic information no meat.
Ben Smith mentions a small handful of items in the dossier that he feels are true.
Is "Well, SOME of it MIGHT be correct " good enough?
Is it the unspoken implication then that the rest of the dossier is suspect at best and outright false at worse?
To what extent the dossier is true is still yet to be determined, but the credibility of the document lies in the credibility of the author, who was a former MI6 spy whose area of expertise just happened to be Russian intelligence.. That makes the idea of the dossier be credible and largely true more likely than not.
2
Steel is the true patriot here. He was so concerned about his findings that he alerted the FBI. Knowing Trump and how he treat women, I will not be surprised that the even in Ritz Hotel did not happen -- after all Trump's bodyguard has said "that the Russian offered Trump prostitutes and he refused". Hmm!
2
Yes, good you published the dossier. Thank you.
3
I am stymied that the most upsetting part for Trump supporters is his interactions with prostitutes. Everything, and I mean everything from this mans past screams that he would use high end prostitutes. From his involvement, and behavior in "beauty contests" all over the world - to his serial marrying of younger women (most recently one much younger woman who seems to have no voice of her own) to the tape of him talking about women. Why is this part so difficult to believe? Trumps hatred of President Obama is on display daily, why would he not do some sophomoric antic to sully a room he new President Obama would be staying in? The most upsetting part is all of the interaction with Russian money. We still haven't seen his tax returns. This could all put Trump in a compromised position with Putin. leaving him wide open to be blackmailed. Putin's end game was to make our democracy look foolish, and he certainly did that. While every voting individual (that voted for Trump, or a third party) is just as responsible - Putin essential helped put a man in the U.S. presidency that is the laughing stock of the world. The constant boasting on twitter, and in press, the fact he had zero political experience, and his unabashed nepotism - it has dirtied our Democracy far more than salacious details of prostitutes cavorting with Trump. This whole mess might have been avoided if the voting public were not so enamored with Trumps racist, MAGA, phony working class message.
4
About midway through the article, Mr. Smith writes, "But we never bought the notion, made by the traditionalists, that a main threat to journalism is that journalists might be too transparent with their audience" as if the job of crack journalists is to be transparent. It is not. If transparency is the goal, then reveal your sources as you write your stories.
Let me argue that your job is to seek the truth. I don't mean the Oprah Winfrey kind of truth - "your truth" - but THE truth. Report the news as objectively as possible with the understanding that we all have biases. Hold the government accountable by investigating each branch and party and holding them accountable to the American people. That used to be the objective of reputable news sources. Unfortunately, few of the those exist anymore.
The Steele Dossier. though revealing and possibly a helpful tool to explain an investigation, is not considered by any person of integrity to be truthful. It was paid for by people who wanted to affect the election outcome. Much of its information was provided by Russian sources. Its time to grow up and face the nation as a true journalistic source and report the news fairly. People don't trust the NYT anymore. Please ask yourselves why that is.
Had the Republicans not brought out a full scale media attack on the dossier I probably wouldn't have noticed it. Because the Republicans got so vehement in denial and restarted the "lock her up campaign," protected General Flynn until they couldn't and started goofy lawsuits against the FBI as if impartial investigation is a defamation we all know that something is inherently true about the sedition and unpatriotic attempts to derail the investigation. Republicans would be better off not hindering the law which they so loved when the democrats were in office. It's a clown show.
2
There is a long history of shooting the messenger. Nothing changes.
The pentagon papers, the White House Tapes, Snowdon, all attacked for telling the American public what everyone around the world already knew.
2
Frankly, you people are true heroes. The Republicans, particularly those controlled by Trump, seem to believe that if you throw enough mud a problem will go away. Whether every little word in that document was verified three times over by different sources isn't the point. It is opening the discussion up, and preventing a professional group of skilled liars and storytellers from being the only one on the stage.
Well done.
2
Thank you, New York Times! Shame on the Senate Republicans for misleading the American people, and trying to smear the reputations of Messrs. Steele and Simpson.
3
Yes, Ben Smith. Count me as one who isn't better informed. The only thing consequential about the existence of the dossier is that it was arranged for and paid for solely by Marc Elias in his role, not in the practice of law, but as an agent for Hillary Clinton, whom even you are aware was 100% financially in control of the DNC (but I learned that from Donna Brazile in an admission against interest) but you managed to leave that out of this piece. The examples of "corroborated facts" that you cite are uninformative non sequiturs, lame "appeal to authority" logical fallacies, which do not speak to the assertions of collusion.
If I had the necessary funds, I could find a lawyer to engage Fusion GPS to engage a former intelligence official to go to his former disinformation cohorts in Russia to produce a dossier describing how Ben Smith regularly sodomizes African American girls inside of churches during Sunday services, and that also describes how this embarrassing revelation is the reason why Ben Smith published the Trump Dossier - to avoid this being exposed by Russia. If I paid enough money, I'm certain that the Russians could also throw in a few non sequiturs into the Ben Smith dossier that could be corroborated by unnamed third parties. And then I could write a defense of my Ben Smith dossier in the NY Times about how better off we all are for knowing about the "information" contained therein.
Nothing in this article about Hillary paying for the dossier to be put together, about the fact that it's pure opposition "research," about the fact that the Clinton campaign did everything in its power to hide the fact they paid for it, about the fact that the only Russian collusion was done on behalf of and at the behest of the Clinton campaign and the campaign donations of millions of Americans who probably have not been too thrilled to learn their hard earned cash was being given to Russians and foreign spies?
NYT, I agree, publish the truth, but make sure it's the WHOLE truth.
I am proud also. It seems that Trump's lawyer is running scared, according to another report in the Times.
I predict that many more rats will soon start abandoning the Trump ship.
2
What needs to be published are Trump's tax returns. That would clarify everything.
4
Complete tripe. The dossier was a paid product from start to finish, it’s contents breezed-over solely for whether it’s salacious contents would fly, both with cherry-picked media, and the FBI. Zero verification. The claims for publishing on grounds of public interest are laughable, not to mention plain ridiculous, especially since Fusion pocketed millions of dollars in fees. Paid by a disgruntled loser, the Clinton campaign, not to mention the fast-fading Democratic Party, no trick left in their book for national significance other obstruct, accuse, and obfuscate.
It’s clear Fusion is screaming on their way down (to courts daily). Won’t work. They need to sing. Yes, about the Clinton Campaign’s involvement. Yes, uncompensated, so their current reluctance is understandable. We’ll stay tuned, nonetheless.
1
Trump's personal attorney Michael Cohen just sued Buzzfeed claiming “It will be proven that I had no involvement in this Russian collusion conspiracy,” Read that statement again. Didn't Cohen just confirm the existence of such a conspiracy? The President might need a smarter lawyer.
2
Amazing that Ben Smith can quote Mr. Sipher as saying "Russia’s goal all along has been to do damage to America and our leadership role in the world" and then state in the very next sentence, without a touch of irony, that for this and other reasons "the chorus of criticism of our decision to publish has faded". Thanks for aiding and abetting Russia in delegitimizing the U.S. election, Ben, you should be proud.
Glenn Simpson -- also eager to push his "testimony" into the public realm (successfully with Senator Feinstein's help) -- is also perpetuating the false narrative that there has been any sort of "crime" committed on the part of the Trump Campaign. The only "crime" he pointed to in his testimony, as being the one that Mr. Steele stated to him that the FBI had "corroborated" at the time in question, was Russian ESPIONAGE in the form of its alleged hack of the DNC's computer (which wasn't exactly at state secret in any event). This very publication thereafter very publicly stated that although the FBI had been investigating the Trump Campaign it, the FBI, had found no evidence of any wrongdoing. It is disingenuous and disgusting for the Left to continue to vent and foment distrust over the U.S. electoral process (simply because it can't accept the results of the 2016 election) while it ignores its own hypocrisy over the previous administration's attempts at influencing foreign elections.
“Russia’s goal all along has been to do damage to America and our leadership role in the world.”
And the GOP and Donald Trump seem determined to help Russia to that end.
1
I case no one else in the Comments has noted this slight departure from rigor:
"salacious allegations"... "Salacious"? Really?
One hopes Buzzfeed limits carelessness to such small matters.
They could have reported on the dossier without publishing what was actually in it.
Nice try. No sale.
I read what you published and, while not being an expert in foreign intelligence, I thought the document stank. It was too much "sources say" and not enough "facts show".
As a reporter in DC for years, I have been handed or approached by numerous people who have documents, phony or otherwise, that show their grandmother was poisoned by the government or the water supply in Someplace, America, has toxic chemicals intentionally placed there to make the citizens like polka music, or something. The published document did not much rise above that level.
I am no defender of D.J. Trump and, indeed, I would like to know if any of the stuff in the dossier was true, but reporters are supposed to check and verify, as closely as possible, what is scribbled down by others. That's the job. Check and double check and if you can't verify, don't publish. What other standard applies?
The ex post facto justifications you cite for publication are just that, after the fact. You helped to stir up trouble, now you report: there's trouble. This reminds me of the old reporter's trick of calling someone, like the DA, and reporting what you've heard and then asking, "Are you investigating?", to which the DA's office replies, "We will have to now."
Every candidate for president has reports prepared on him or her by the opposition. Most of these reports probably contain some salacious rumors. If everything gets thrown out there, ordinary functioning becomes impossible.
2
This still unverified dossier combined with Obama's decision not to mention any Russian Collusion until after his party lost the election has made us the world's laughing stock and gave Putin more then he had ever hoped for bringing chaos, confusion, and uncertainty to our election.
Dangerous times require dangerous measures.
So what if those memoranda from interviews by Steele of Russians had some lies.
The POTUS tells more lies in two days.
There is no doubt in my mind that Trump was caught in a honey trap and laundered Russian money. He is a Russian puppet.
Thanks, Mr Smith.
1
Did Buzzfeed have the right to publish the dossier? Of course. First Amendment and all that. Does that make the dossier true? Of course not. The only verified fact in the dossier is that Roger Stone traveled to Russia. The rest is a bunch of garbage.
But, I'm thankful it was published because we now know that the DNC and Hillary colluded with the Russian government to concoct fake dirt on Trump. And, we also now that some corrupt elements inside the DOJ and FBI acted improperly, and probably illegally, to harm the Trump campaign. Now we can tell the real story and root out the corruption. Thanks Buzzfeed!
I applaud Buzzfeed and NYT for publishing the dossier, and I applaud Sen. Feinstein for disclosing the testimony today. “Fake news” means fabricated information, not information that is just embarrassing to Trump.
It thrills me to see Trump squirm over these things, and watch his roaches scatter when the sunlight hits them. It’s good payback for all the wretching I did in the bathroom during election night in 2016.
2
The Times didn't publish the dossier.
this dismal episode clearly shows how low the left is willing to go to win...to the gutter.
"...some elements have been corroborated."
Now that's fine journalism.
When are journalists going to start asking Republicans hard questions about their “look the other way” response to the President’s assault on America’s laws, institutions, norms?
3
While our cowardly dishonorable unpatriotic President was collaborating, colluding, cooperating and conspiring with Vladimir Putin in order to profit from being elected President of the United States a former British citizen and spy was trying to defend and protect America and Americans from Trump's malign corrupt criminal greedy treachery. Christopher Steele is a hero. While Trump is an existential threat to the preservation, protection and defense of our Constitution.
2
I spent some of my time in the Navy 40 years ago assuring that one third of the Soviets triad was rendered mute literally through sound waves. I spent my grade school years ducking under my desk. Who is this President? I lived and worked blocks away from this guy's childhood home for decades. Jamaica Estates perhaps best known for another sleazy Donald , Manes. Wonderful Jamaica full of temples , Hindu and others, mosques, Greek orthodox domes, a Catholic University and people from all over the globe working hard, studying harder... is this President really a New Yorker? Is he even American? Ending the American Dream for 300,000 TPS with a higher employment rate than the rest of us, mortgages, American children. It's just mean and the next day he dares to speak of love in his immigration policy. He does the environmental bidding of a coal executive and has West Virginia or Ohio's unemployment of coal miners budged. Have their junkies found treatment from Trump 's really great health policy? Grow up silent majority, come to NYC like the immigrants you hate so much and get a job.
At least Bannon knows treason when he saw it.
2
They will be shut down bankrupt as they should.They should aslo be sent the bill for the phony investigation for 100 million $.
The truth will set you free. And in the process it could "lock him up".
1
Illogical, self-serving salacious and false. So tell us again what is the justification for publishing this document (without any constraints. Oh yes, there might be some amount of not-false information in the document.
Of course BuzzFeed has the reputation of being largely rumor based, yellow journalism. Like the scorpion, it is its nature to skirt reality.. Let's give Mr. Smith a participation trophy. After all, he's proud that he did it.
The intersection of Russian Oligarch financing of Trump/ Kushner business entities and those IOU’s a pretext to RICO/ FCPA charges? Mueller’s Gambino style Mafia takedown rolls his investigative bowl down the lane and scatters the pins.
Mueller’s spot play method known for successive strikes in the alley of justice. A method of aiming the ball in which spots (arrows and dots) on the lane are used as targets rather than looking at the pins during the throw.
Trump/Kushner pins present the Head/King combo necessary for that ultimate strike for democracy.
The Cyprus nexus and flightaware fin tracking of Jared’s layovers during his Bibi/MBS excursions a yet silent chapter in this league tournament.
If there is truth in the Steele Dossier, it is in a wrapper of lies.
The information in the dossier is a lot more credible than whatever the Birther-in-Chief's investigators did (not) discover in Hawaii.
2
At the news of the dossier's existence, I'm not sure anyone took it as fact. However, it is not "fake news" it existed, nor is it "fake news" Congress was acting on it as your column points out. Reid and McCain possibly acting on fake news? Or is it? We might be in more trouble than I thought! And, I don't know my history like I should ---- help! And Bernie just put out, poor men are dying at a much faster rate than rich men ---- help!
Why has the GOP leadership been striving to undermine the Trumpkin-Russia investigation? This includes course reversals from people like Senators Graham and Corker.
My hypothesis: Pence is sweating.
2
The release of the transcript and the attempted Republican obstruction just adds to the continued smoke and mirror campaign by the Republicans who asked no questions of substance but instead attacked the messenger.
The issue is the Russian meddling in an American election and what if any role Trump surrogates may have had in cooperating with that meddling. Instead we have Republicans attempting to discredit Robert Mueller and anyone clearly interested in acquiring the truth in the matter.
So the oath of office these Republicans take is meaningless to them. It's party over country every single time. Regardless of Mr. Mueller's findings, the Republicans that attempted to obstruct justice should be held to account and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.
In my view this behavior is treason.
4
Diana Feinstein, was prepared to reset the moral compass of being a Senator for many has been compromised in the hands of the few. Patriotism and morality died many times over once legislators are greased by sponsors.
5
I am so tired of the Press and the Government telling me I should not have access to information. As a country, we are dependent on “leaks” to uncover the truths that are being hidden from the public. Whether it is the Dossier or UFO’s tracked by the Defense Dept, we have a right to know. Put the story out there and let the people sort it out. We are not stupid unless we allow our representatives or the press to hide the truth.
4
Well done, Ben Smith. Will this get us closer to getting rid of this guy? I hope so. The doldrums are no fun at all.
1
Clear to whom? I watched the congressional hearings with FBI and DOJ officials on the topic and apart from Carter Page's business trip to Russia nothing has been corroborated from that dossier, and even Page's trip, there's no evidence he did anything wrong there. We are not at war with Russia and travelling there is not a crime, as speaking with Russians in NYC isn't either.
So save your pride for more honest endeavours.
Ny expat,
You heard nothing of value in public hearings. The action is behind the doors and in Mueller probe.
2
It seems clear that the Kremlin has something on Trump. What I am surprised at is that Republicans in Congress and the Senate are so intent on participating in a cover-up which has the potential to damage Americas standing globally. What are the Republicans getting that Pense will not gladly give them? What do they know that they are willing to lose both the House and Senate to protect?
There must be a bigger story here.
3
I am proud that you & your organization had the courage & integrity to publish this dossier. Your actions give me hope for this country during these dark and confusing times. So many of my friends who live in foreign countries all over the world have asked me countless times: HOW did Donald Trump end up as POTUS? Has America lost it's mind? Freedom of the Press is an integral component of a thriving democracy. So are Courage, integrity, ethics and the ability to think critically about complex issues. We all don't have to agree, positive outcomes come from the open exchange of probing public discourse. But that is not what happened during the last election. Review history. Destructive things happen to Democracies or Open Societies when a 5% of the population controls the wealth of any nation. Currently our elected government is failing us. And I am not just talking about Trump. I would include many Republican & Democratic Senators & Congressional Leaders in this group. Too many of our government representatives are NOT representing the American People, they are representing the interests of the Oligarchs of this country and the world. The American People can stop this. We must seek to gain understanding about HOW the 2016 Election turned out the way it did. It will not be pretty and it will be painful. The American People can deal with this. We must go to the polls in 2018 and demand that the people who are elected represent WE THE PEOPLE.
3
All the talk about the mental health of Donald Trump boils down to 2 basic questions that are easily answered: Is DJT capable of providing an objective view that may include detrimental views on himself? Does DJT value the truth? All honest evaluation will provide the same answer. He’s not and he doesn’t.
Any mature healthy person is and does. What does it say that so many people are willing to support a person with these undeniable qualities? What does it say about his political allies that they are willing to overlook these undeniable traits?
2
I am sure there are plenty who wish they had less insight into the forces at play in America. It makes people feel bad, scared and depressed, so better to pretend that everything is just fine. And Trump is just the guy to make them feel better, strong and cheerful. Really?
WAKE UP! If America is to be great it can't do it without facing reality and throwing out the con-men and thieves. It's not about what has been going on since last January.
2
Freedom of the press is essential to preserve democracy. A free press and open communication is the first thing that tyrants historically silence.
4
Is everything in the dossier true? We don't know, but we know that much of it has been validated.
Was it in America's best interest for Republicans to smear and the FBI to tarnish Hillary Clinton over email security and lies about Benghazi while hiding the truth that there were serious, credible concerns about Trump conspiring with Russia?
Republicans turn the public's interest in transparency into scorched earth, political vendettas. But, when real transparency is demanded and pursued, Republicans circle the wagons, send out a team of liars, and use Fox and Fools and their vast propaganda outlets to attack truth, even reality.
I am happy the dossier was published. If it falsely defames Trump, let him sue. Something he is very experienced at. Threatening.
4
What exactly in the dossier has been proven to be true?
In the general election the only collusion was between the DNC/Hillary campaign and the Obama administration. Obama used the FBI/DOJ to spy on the Trump campaign. The information from that spying was passed to the MSM and the Hillary campaign. We have found out that the Steel Dossier was paid for and written by Hillary and the DNC. That document formed the basis for the appointing of the special counsel to investigate Trump. It was also used to get search warrants, tap phones and unmask Americans. The texts between high level FBI and DOJ officials show that this dossier was part of an “insurance policy” to stop Trump if he was elected.
Most of what you assert is pure speculation. If you have any evidence for any of those assertions, please provide sources. (you don't)
2
M. Smith suggests that "Mr. Trump sought, but never consummated, business deals in Russia." Yet his relationship with Deutsche Bank, and the latter's evasiveness, not only suggests the contrary but will possibly provide the smoking gun Mueller has been seeking and Bannon referred to when he said Don Jr. would "crack like an egg."
When Trump described BuzzFeed a "failing pile of garbage" he was obviously looking in the mirror.
Thank Heaven for a free press and, yes, for whistleblowers from within and outside the security services. Citizens must know what their governments are doing. Getting them to change ingained habits is another matter altogether.
3
The question is why Congress didn't publish the report? Some might consider that obstruction of justice.
3
The only people who don't care to be enlightened to inconvenient facts are Trump fanatics, who thrive on conspiracy theories and Soviet-style propaganda.
And only the oligarchs and their GOP lackeys want a less informed public.
I was relieved when you published the dossier - important insight into the strange events preceding the bizarre and ominous situations that were to evolve at the White House.
3
It's worth remembering that it was the Republicans who ordered this opposition research on Trump in the first place. The Republicans knew about his shady dealings with Russia and wanted to know more. They only gave up once it became clear Trump would be the nominee. The real question we will need to address once the Mueller investigation concludes is, What did the Republicans know and What did they do about it?
4
I've always considered Ben Smith a serious journalist who did exactly the right thing in publishing the dossier in the public's interest, who seriously weighed the concerns beforehand. Unfortunately, far too many journalists these days are access-seeking, people-pleasing conformists and gossip mongers.
1
The real tragedy was not the the dossier per se; it was that the Obama administration had caved to Republican opposition months earlier to alert the American people to the alarming and very chilling message in the dossier--that Russia was very actively interfering in our election on behalf of Donald Trump and that Trump himself might be "compromised.". This was compounded by the egregious double standard embraced by the FBI. Make public, literally days before the election, the reopening of the Clinton email investigation because they assumed Sec. Clinton was going to win anyway, but, on the other hand, say nothing about the ongoing Russia investigation and the potential collusion by the Trump campaign because he was already claiming the election was "rigged." Buzzfeed was thus left to do what the FBI and the Obama administration had failed to do, but it was too late to correct the political miscalculations that will forever cast a shadow over the 2016 election. Of course, we now also know that it wasn't the dossier that led the FBI to open its Russia investigation, but a tip from an Australian diplomat who'd encountered a drunken, loose-lipped George Papadopoulos, a now admitted perjurer, then working in the Trump campaign as one of it foreign policy experts.
3
“One large portion of the dossier is crystal-clear, certain, consistent and corroborated,” a C.I.A. veteran, John Sipher, wrote recently. “Russia’s goal all along has been to do damage to America and our leadership role in the world.”
Well, almost a full year after Trump's inauguration, I'd have to say Russia has succeeded beyond its wildest dreams.
5
Thank you Ben! I was really getting sick of all this positive news about a booming economy and was deathly afraid that normal people would start to associate it with the President. Like most of you Times' readers and writers, I would want this economy to crash rather than have the Trump become popular.
1
Responding under oath during civil litigation last spring Steele acknowledged his Russian information was "raw and unverified". "Raw and unverified " is not real news.
Steele's information has never been verified and it is amazing how his story changed when there were consequences for not being honest.
Once again President Trump is proven right on a claim of "Fake News"!
1
Thank you for publishing the dossier. Why not? It's an outrageous document with compromising information about our President. The American people are entitled to see this. It wasn't classified. AND Mitch McConnell has done all that he's possibly could to destroy America democracy, including viciously blocking Gar;and Merrick's hearings AND absolutely compromising our 2016 Presidential election, by threatening President Obama with hyper-partisan retlatiaion if he revealed Russia cyber warfare in the US election. McConnell must shoulder this responsibility and resign in disgrace.
2
1) I thought the initial funding of "the dossier" was made by certain Republicans. 2) Rachel Maddow noted the Russians take "the dossier" seriously. 9 Russians who were associated in some way with "the dossier" have been killed. Typical of cable news, we just get the headline. Victims were not identified nor their relationship to "the dossier" described. 3) While it is good that Senator Feinstein made "the dossier" public, like Senator McConnell's keeping court appointments vacant for over a year to make Republican nominees possible, Senate protocol has been broken generating more mistrust between the political parties. 4) It baffles me that the one's who reported to law enforcement authorities that a crime was about to be committed, blackmail of a US candidate for Federal office, are the ones Senate and House Republicans blame for criminal wrong doing. 5) I am grateful Ben Smith published "the dossier" in Buzzfeed in spite of charges it is "fake news" and time has shown it to be real news. This episode shows just calling a document or journalistic commentary "fake news" does not necessarily make it phony or valueless.
2
If it wasn’t clear before it should be clear now that the republicans who currently hold power are actively working to undermine our democracy. We are under attack from within. Add the judges decision on the gerrymandering in North Carolina to the very deliberate actions to mislead Americans on the Russian collusion and a coordinated guerrilla operation is laid bare. It is up to the electorate now to reestablish a functioning democratic republic “If you can keep it” Ben Franklin.
2
I keep wondering where China is in all of this. The dossier suggests several times that "Republican campaign team (was) happy to have Russia as media bogeyman to mask more extensive corrupt busines ties to China and other emerging countries."
2
"...insight into the forces at play in America". The primary force is money, and DC is awash in it, much of it ill-gotten. And correlated to the money is Fox, which is nothing less and nothing more than a propaganda outlet, now equivalent to state television for the oligarchy. If we are to retain our representative democracy we must elect only those who will solemnly pledge to do two things: 1) minimize the power of money over our election process and, through lobbying, over Congress, and 2) reenact the fairness doctrine to ensure accuracy and the requirement of verifiable truth in our media. Absent those two things, nothing else will matter, and we will have lost our country forever.
3
I wonder if the NYT will offer any self-reflection regarding its role in this saga. Fusion GPS has testified that Steele reached out to media outlets including the NYT with his findings and those findings were disregarded prior to the election. However, Mr. Steele was dissuaded from continuing to work with the FBI because of, among other things, the Oct 31, 2016 article in the NYT stating the the FBI had no evidence of a Trump-Russia connection.
I don’t doubt that the Oct 31 article accurately reflected what the NYT reporters had heard from some sources inside the FBI but it clearly did not accurately reflect the facts and proved to be misleading at a critical time in our history. Some autopsy on how the Times came to make crucial editorial decisions favorable to Trump despite knowledge of facts to the contrary would be helpful and would reassure this reader that my subscription dollars are going to an organization capable of learning and improving.
2
"The central challenge to Mr. Trump's presidency" is not the Russia dossier. The central challenge to Mr. Trump's presidency is Mr. Trump.
2
The messengers (Steele and Buzzfeed) are the real heroes here. The GOP will do whatever they can to shoot these messengers. The GOP seems complicit in helping Russia. Why? We may find out if the Russians ever release the hacked RNC emails they reportedly have and may be using to blackmail those in power. More to come I am sure.
2
The fact remains, you published an unverified and still unproven report. The clear intent was to affect the outcome of the election. Collusion? Look at yourselves.
What all this means is that some of our closest allies were more concerned about protecting America from Russian intervention that Republicans.
3
Kudos to Buzz Feed for publishing the contents of the dossier. It is clear that the document has taken on a life of its own in the investigations and various controversies surrounding Trump , Manafort, etc., and the "Russian Collusion". Other news sources are hypocritical to attack its release, had they been thinking head they would have seen the value of revealing its contents to the general public.
2
So, how exactly did Putin force you to check a box for President Trump instead of Hillary? Was he in the voting booth with you?
The so-called British "spy", often regarded as a fabricator, was paid millions to write this dossier which was used in attempt to influence the election. Is that not also collusion by a foreign power?
There is no doubt about it. We are Russia's enemy.
The more we know, the better we can shape our opinions and decisions. Information is our best friend.
1
I disagree.
The fact that the Media has managed to keep the FAKE dossier running is only indicative of the power the Media has ...to run its own press.
Historically, it is sad evidence of a time when Journalism died and was replaced by a bunch of inconsequential 'writers' engaging in coprolalia and onanism.
Sadly Chuck Todd is a disappointment. What did he know at that point and what does he say now, I wonder?
1
Today, I breathe a sigh of relief that Democracy is still alive in my country. Thank you, Buzzfeed, McCain, and Feinstein.
2
The left, the beret wearing members of the "resistance" will never quit their foolish efforts to re-litigate the 2016 election. They've tried every trick in the book ranging from trying to overturn the function of the electoral college to trying to convince the electorate that Trump is mentally incompetent (good luck with that as his allowing live televising of his meeting with congressional leaders yesterday clearly demonstrates he's not mentally impaired) and of course the collusion story which -- despite the protestations of the author -- has not been substantiated by evidence. I know progressive journalists don't understand the importance of evidence but you really do need it, it's more important than the narrative.
And of course, Ben Smith doesn't provide any evidence here that the dossier is true. He talks about how important it is etc., but not a shred of evidence does he offer. Of course that won't stop the progs from ranting on about collusion.
2020 will roll around and there still will be no evidence of collusion. Meanwhile our duly elected guv officials busy themselves with this side show when they should be spending the $$$ on strengthening our cyber security, not just to stop Russia but any other bad actor on the world stage who would like to compromise our elections.
So the Trump family has done business with Russia and East Europeans for years, likely including a very significant amount of money laundering, they gleefully accepted the opportunity to collude with Russia to win the election, and the Republican Congress has used the opportunity presented by collusion and both Trump's and their own obstruction of justice to make the biggest wealth transfer to the rich in history. Corruption, obstruction of justice, disregard for law and destroying the country's place in the world. Rise up people, otherwise the damage done by these despicable people will be irreversible.
2
" Do you feel that way?" (wish you had not read the dossier)?
Before I heard about that dossier, I had watched Trump on TV, at a campaign rally, on all three TV networks, ask Russia to release all of the other 33,000 emails that Hillary had allegedly deleted. So, without a dossier, I knew Trump was in bed with the Russians, and, was not surprised.
At that rally, Trump, because of his fairly low intelligence, was openly flaunting the fact that the Russians were on his side, and, he probably thought the Russians would do his bidding and release the other emails to Wikileaks.
Why the Mueller investigation has ignored that widely watched request to the Russians is a puzzle to me. I guess the Russians were smart enough NOT to do the release of those emails to protect their boy Trump.
Sadly, the bottom line is: Trump's supporters believe all his tweets are true and that everything else is fake news.
In a country where 40% of the people have been conditioned to "believe" a white man's lies, just because they come from the pulpit of power, I think we can get used to the Russians being involved....and.....a lot more than what Mr. Trump managed to get away with (and yes, get away with it he will).
1
DNC engineered coup not working. Trump is not a great President, but doesn't deserve the vitriol out of NYC media he is getting. The DNC press is way way way over the line. About as objective as Marx and Lenin.
Testimony is not corroboration, it's words and words are wind. Get some hard evidence, not some storytellers. Pictures, videos, audio, actual documents, results from third party forensic accountants and IT experts.
People lie, journalism is opinionated entertainment, and everyone has an agenda. Get primary sources or the public, having observed reports be so wrong on the facts so often, will rightfully doubt anything you say or write.
Sorry, I know the dossier seems to be important and I don't know of anything that's been proven to be untrue, but you can't just put stuff out there without sourcing, or without consequences. I say this as someone who 100% believes in the illegitimacy of the Trump presidency. It's why I didn't put much stock in David Corn's article, either. "Former Russian spy" meant nothing to me.
1
Stating I haven’t heard a single person telling me “I wish I haden’t read the dossier” clearly evidencinces his knowing he failed his responsibilities, claiming the publishing of the dossier was a public service. Indeed, its original publication failed to mention that it was funded by Clinton campaign operatives seeking negative Trump information but that would have undermined its credibility.
Remarkably, absent any factual support for the dossier he turns to stating “key” Senate members acted on it—well they did but not as indicated, to use it as a factual evidence; rather they acted to determine if the dossier was true given the Comey FBI had started an investigation based solely on it- A misleading accounting that leads the reader to incorrectly believe senior Senate members believed it to be true on its face.
The actual news of course was the FBI used an unconfirmed dossier, a study not created by the FBI, to investigate the front runner in the presidential campaign. Think about that, any time the opposing political party is loosing an election it solicits mud, gives it to the FBI and the FBI announces it is investigating criminal activity of the target. That is a clear infringement on our dempcracy—THAT WAS THE NEWS TO REPORT.
Please do recall that it was was funders of Republican opponents of Mr. Trump who commissioned Mr. Steele’s initial efforts.
2
YES I'M PROUD That the dossier has been published. But how do we undo the extensive, crippling damage done to US global leadership that his been done by Trumptee Dumptee's foreign policy conducted in 140 character tweets and by unrelenting, distorted, inaccurate and frequently untrue attribution of problems to others. For Trump it is a reenactment of his childhood experience as a birthday party guerrilla where he'd start food fights. That's how he conducts himself now. Governance as food fights. Presidential leadership as food fights. If nothing else, such violent policies leave lots of garbage and contamination strewn around the international relations environment.
2
Without your publication of the Dossier, we would be in the dark listening to all the Republican lies and misleading and malicious statements and not knowing what to believe. The Republicans would certainly have hidden the dossier and had the DOJ persecute Fusion GPS and BuzzFeed like they have done to Mr. Steele, until Senator Feinstein bravely revealed the Republicans to be the liars they are. Republicans have absolutely no credibility left with me.
trump is right - "there was no collusion" - it is a conspiracy.
3
The American voters have the right to know just what these documents contain. Kudos for publishing them!
It is well past time that this most egregious, corrupt administration and their enablers are unmasked and that the GOP discontinue their protection of these common gangsters.Every Republican who has dismissed the allegations and defended the blatancy and hubris of this showman president has collected much more than his 30 pieces of silver in betrayal of democracy.
1
What I find somewhat strange is we the public knew all about the FBI's investigation into Clinton's email server, but why was there no information about Trumps Russian contacts if the FBI knew about the Trump tower meeting with the Russian lawyer offering dirt on Clinton before the election why did the voters not know this? Trump likes to trash the FBI but I'm my opinion they had a lot to do with getting him elected. I have often thought that when Trump attacked them post election it was a colossal blunder on his part.
2
There's nothing to be proud of in publishing the Steele dossier. Many news organizations had it. All except BuzzFeed felt it improper to publish a document full of salacious, unverified accusations. And they were right. BuzzFeed was wrong.
At this point, anyone who believes that the Trump campaign worked with the Russians in the 2016 election is a conspiracy theorist. There is no evidence to support that. None.
Sure, it could still be true. Just like the CIA killed John Kennedy. And the US government "pulled down" 7 World Trade Center. And astronauts never landed on the moon.
1
The Times advertises itself under the banner of "truth" and though it cannot be held responsible for op-ed pieces what we have here is a clear case of "Trump washing" (I am using the expression that FAIR employs). Trump is an awful character so anything said against him goes, even if it's not true or cannot be ascertained.
Steele never went to Russia he relied on hearsay for his contacts. He was first employed by Cruz then by the Clinton camp which makes his findings highly problematic. His mission was to find dirt in Trump in Russia and this he did.
Even in this very biased article (by somebody who cannot be impartial) there is one indication that the whole story is problematic: "Mr. Trump sought, but never consummated, business deals in Russia". Besides the fact that the word "consummated" is a weasel word for it suggests sexual activity not really a business deal, it indicates that Trump was, as usual, out to get a deal and rip some people off but could not. Now if he had been Putin's puppet of course his business deals would have been "consummated".
Trump most likely was out to cheat and do a shady deal (exactly what he is known for in the US) and he had dealings with shady Russians but that does not prove collusion with the Putin régime. Maybe Mueller will get him for these scams and his efforts to obstruct justice but if one believes in truth it's important not to stretch it.
Trump is an absolute disaster but the Clinton Democrats are playing games with the truth.
1
Never concluded deals that we know of. I have no doubt that many deals were concluded, none of them above board. The point of pursuing "deals" is that Putin keeps Trump dangling on a string and is able to communicate his wishes under the cover of a theoretical "real estate deal." Why did these so-called "deals" take so long to consummate? What was the real purpose of all this negotiation?
1
How anyone can argue, in the age of social media, against publishing source material, is beyond me. If I had an agenda....
I am not a journalist, but I would say that it would be valuable and appropriate for the online version of this piece to include a link to the dossier and/or the Buzzfeed piece announcing its publication.
1
The dossier is the culmination of fake news & sensational unsupported claims. It wouldnt have been published by reputable media.
It is diaappointing to see what a morass Washington and the "news" media have become. The only way to become informed these days is to read books. Of course, maybe that's always been true.
Sometimes, its nice to be able to write a 'told you so" piece. It was fun to read.
I too think it was good the fake dossier was published. Our eyes have been opened to the staggering amount of corruption at the highest levels of the FBI and DOJ.
No mention of the fact that the "Dossier" was paid for by Clinton and the DNC.No mention of the fact that not one of the salacious allegations about Trump has withstood the light of day. Isn't that a tad dishonest? The column could be summarized as
"I'm proud we published fake news, because we don't like Trump"
it's 2018. BuzzFeed has Guts. Mounds don't.
The fact that you still feel the need to defend (in such a public fashion) your decision to publish the dossier to me means you are still struggling with it in your mind while the rest of the world has moved on from it. Perhaps you made the wrong decision after-all. And the public is smart enough to draw the relevant context from the existence of the dossier without having to read the entire document. This piece is a bit arrogant and frankly a little insulting. Keep struggling with your decision - I hope you can attain a satisfied mind on this.
God Bless Buzz feed and all California Senator Senators who provide the American people the basic facts.
Mr Trump has destroyed America, and his republican enablers are an even greater threat to Democracy.
Our FBI dropped the ball and did everything possible to tilt a close election towards republicans without souls.
Our prayers go out to all the courageous intelligence officers of Great Britain and America who bled to give America these simple facts to make a decent call. on
3
I'm not at all proud of the fact our nation has been reduced to this. We're at a point far beneath the events of Nixon's Watergate, the Bay of Pigs, and Vietnam. Combined.
2
The ONLY thing that surprises me about this whole affair is the number of sycophants Trump manages to amass among members of Congress and the media. Why do they think this guy is worth the trouble? There are any number of good old fashioned right leaning members of the GOP who would be all too happy to give tax breaks to the donor class, protect gun manufacturers, pack the courts with right wing judges, roll back regulations, deny climate change, and make it difficult for people of color to vote. What IS it about Trump that has people so starry eyed that they are willing to lose careers and reputations? Name ONE person who hasn't been chewed up and spit out by Trump (I'm talking to you Senator Graham!)?
There is no other explanation of me other than the GOP is now a criminal enterprise.
1
Let the light shine bright.
2
You deserve an award.
6
Thank you for your courage.
I wanted to puke listening to the reaction a year ago from the Beltway Stenographers Club. [ Chuck Todd's their poster child.] Mustn't rattle the jewelry nor jeopardize cozy access to the powerful.
Yes, again, thank you.
4
A qualified thank you. It was a rare pleasure to read an actual source document and decide for myself the veracity. The timing of the release, with hindsight, could have perhaps been better. A difficult decision I would not want to be compelled to make.
But this pales compared to the fascinating glimpse into a world usually shrouded from intelligent inquisitive minds with an eye towards the truth.
15
Thank you, Mr. Smith, for sharing the dossier with American adults. I can't speak for everyone, but I was glad for the opportunity to read and evaluate it against what was being reported by "real" journalists. The background whispering about it in the weeks leading up to your action was infuriating; I felt like a child who couldn't be trusted with important information.
Trust me, some of the criticism you've experienced at the hands of "real" reporters is actually chagrin that they didn't act as boldly as you did.
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Not hat I approve of underhanded behavior of governments interfering in the democratic processes of other governments but it seems to me rather naive to ignore that this is a fundamental procedure throughout all history and the USA is no exception to this activity, It has been a regular practice of the US government to interfere in other governments political procedures and that the US elections might be subject to the sane intervention is neither surprising nor unexpected. Not only Trump, but the entire three sectors of the USA government is at an extremely unpopular level and there seems to be little that the citizenry can do to change the situation since elected officials are obviously more concerned about the funding for their re-election than responsible to the severe troubles of the citizens. I have no solution, but it would be gratifying if the government could see to the problems of the population rather than to outrageously extending military adventures that are impoverishing the country and totally unsuccessful.
17
"While Mr. Trump’s camp dismiss the dossier as malicious fiction or pure political opportunism, some elements have been corroborated. For example, that the Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort hid payments for his work in Ukraine, as federal authorities have alleged; that the Russian diplomat Mikhail Kalugin was withdrawn suddenly from the United States; and that Mr. Trump sought, but never consummated, business deals in Russia."
Not one of these relates to collusion between Russia and Trump. Please explain just what Trump did that was collusion.
5
@Mark In NJ
New Jersey
Still under investigation but all the instances you cite provide justifiable grounds for suspicion of collusion. Or are you really still trying to pretend the Russians didn't interfere with the US presidential election as Trump claimed?.
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You guys can scream "no collusion" all you want. Level headed adults know that collusion, in and of itself, is not a crime. However, if they received material information intended to help their campaign from a foreign government then that is a violation of campaign finance law. THAT is the pertinent crime vis a vis Russia, and there is substantial evidence that the Trump campaign INTENDED to receive such aid.
2
Mark, no explanation will suffice for Trumps true believers. To paraphrase Trump himself, he could shoot someone in the street and his followers would still believe his denials. Besides the collusion can be between the Trump campaigns principle players and not necessarily by Trump directly.
1
Thank you for speaking the truth,and taking all of the criticism.We need the free,courageous press ,now more than ever.
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There is no truth in the dossier. You call our press free and courageous? What's courageous about being totally biased against one political party? Courageous like Matt Lauer and Charlie Rose and the many other sexual predators in the mainstream media?
T's money laundry and pay for play has/had a larger playing field than only the US and a lot of companies and or financing channels are not registered in the US and difficult to prove because of only circonstanciel evidence. I am convinced that the oldest deals and scams have probably the most flaws and will easily emerge. Just find the victims.
10
I always knew Grassley was a political hack; but I am very disappointed with Senator Graham, with whom I disagree on many issues, but thought he was a real patriot. Kudos to Senator Feinstein who made the Steel dossier public. It's incredible that with all the evidence of Russian involvement in our 2016 campaign, and credible evidence of Trump campaign involvement, that the only criminal referral the Committee can seem to make is against a a former respected British intelligence official who tried to warn its closest ally, the US, of this potential crime.
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Senator Feinstein didn't make the Steele dossier public. She made the transcript of Glenn Simpson's testimony public.
1
Agree completely about Sens. GraGra, but our esteemed senior Senator released the Simpson transcript. Buzzfeed released the dossier, a year ago.
1
Everyone that reads the dossier should give it the weight that they believe it deserves, relative to other information that they have access to. No more and no less. The funding sources are one of the factors that impact this weight. It clearly deserves to be available to the public so that we can give appropriate weight to the thousands of comments of Trump and elected officials about the Trump organization and Trump campaign ties to Russia - which is a matter that every citizen has a personal stake in.
7
At some point, should Mr Mueller findings result in political consequences for Mr Trump, the dossier may rank up there with the Pentagon Papers in terms of historical impact.
13
Publishing the dossier was the correct thing to do for journalism and for public trust. Too much has been hidden, and is still being hidden, from American citizens. Most of the dossier has been confirmed, and certainly those who created it have high credibility, including the former top Russianist of MI6.
Somehow, there was and is a conspiracy of silence to obscure the Russian interference in the election, the extent of the Trump people's involvement, and the very serious ramifications for democratic elections in the United States and abroad. Perhaps some were trying to obscure that this was successful, or that different institutions were impacted from hacked voter databases in different states to social media to right wing propaganda sources to law enforcement.
The truth must out. Journalists have been doing an incredible job this past year, but I wish more had been done prior to the election.
Thank you.
17
The author of this dossier has solid gold credentials. A lifetime spent in the intelligence world culminating in leadership of the Russian desk at Britain's MI6. It's also obvious he was in contact with US intelligence officials about its content. By definition most of this cannot be verified which is true of much information in the intelligence world so trying to apply normal journalistic standards is inherently ludicrous. So one is left with the question is it credible. Does anyone doubt that most of it is?
42
Thank you, Ben Smith, Buzzfeed, the New York Times, Washington Post and CNN for your continued efforts to cast light on the Truth. As the Washington Post says, “Democracy Dies in Darkness.
Thank you also to Senator Feinstein. I had lost faith that you or your colleagues would ever step up and take on the traitors to our Country who call themselves Republicans.
And thank you to Indivisible.org, MoveOn.org and OurRevolution.org for giving us, the electorate, the tools to fight the Deceit, Unlawfulness, Cowardice, and Collusion that is presently destroying our progressive Democracy founded 241 years ago.
I only hope I can eventually that Special Prosecutor Mueller for unveiling what we all know is the Truth: Trump and his lackeys (including his sons, daughter and son-in-law) all sought the help and collusion of Putin and the Russian government to win an election and then, with the collusion of the Republicans in Congress, sought to obstruct in every way possible the investigation into Trump’s dealings with the Russians.
It is time to shine the Light on the Truth and end this national nightmare.
36
No proof at all to back up your fantasy. I see by your reading/watch list that you prefer to live in a liberal bubble that feeds your fantasy. Repeat after me: President Donald Trump. He won and the United States in starting to recover from the Obama malaise.
. In addition to our Russian friends not being our friends the supranational kleptocrats class are a clear and present danger. They also help explain why this is such a tough nut to crack
1
The dossier should be reprinted in full in newspapers across the nation. Voters should be able to read it closely. We live in a nation where transparency and open discussion are the bedrocks of democracy. To hide the dossier would be to hide secrets in order to save Trump. And why would Trump object to the dossier's release? He and his Republican cronies keep saying there was no collusion with Russia. If that's true, what could he possibly fear from the dossier's release?
400
He also keeps attempting to limit the scope of Mueller’s investigation, especially as it pertains to his taxes, which begs the question, what is he trying to hide. In my estimation, if you have nothing to hide, there is no reason to resist an investigation or the public’s curiosity about their President’s financial affairs. What are you hiding Mr. Trump?
8
@SD:
Read away. For those who want to read it, it has hardly been kept a secret. Those that need it to be published in their local newspaper aren't trying hard enough.
https://www.buzzfeed.com/kenbensinger/these-reports-allege-trump-has-dee...
2
"If that's true, what could he possibly fear from the dossier's release?"
Lies perhaps?
4
I don't think we should be so anxious to discard standards for validating truth and accuracy in reporting and publishing information, especially explosive information like this dossier. We have all seen how difficult it can be to avoid devastating errors even when trying to adhere to those standards. Never forget that just because discarding these standards seems to support your views or desires today, it can and will be used against you in the future.
4
Thank you, thank you, thank you--- as the quality, character, and personality of this outrageous man comes into sharper focus each day he occupies the Oval Office, this dossier becomes an increasingly more realistic and genuine portrayal of his criminal and immoral connections with the Russian kleptocracy.
16
Thank you for publishing. Your actions lead the way. The truth must be told. Veritas!
6
There is still glimpses of courage under fire in the US, and the publication of this dossier and the actions of Senator Diane Feinstein today prove that being a patriot often means having the courage to go against the powers that be. The GOP has no such courage, and they should feel more than shame because for decades they have claimed to be the party of patriots, when all they really were and are, are nefarious opportunists. Anyone who bargains with someone like Trump, a shady criminal, rather than putting the country ahead of party or ideology, is morally complicit in those criminal activities. These GOP congressmen and senators are committing moral treason, whether or not they will ever be legally deposed.
13
Thank you for your courage. We’re PROUD of you, too!
6
While not a fan of Trump, this whole Russian collusion and hacking story has been a total red herring. It's been over a year now and not one shred of evidence has been produced and displayed for the the public to see by our intelligence services. They keep saying there is collusion and Russian interference, but not any evidence has been shown. Why? Even Flynn's confession of lying to the FBI was a disappointment given his involvement with the Turkish government, a far serious crime. In my opinion, the real story is Trump's financial dealings with the Russian oligarchs and Russian mob and money laundering via his properties in the Trump organization. That is where Muller, a white-collar crime expert, will find a trove of corruption. Follow the money. And while we are investigating (the media's attention span is similar to that of a cat and a laser pointer) let's not forget the corruption of the Clinton Foundation, Teneo, Doug Band, Bill and Hillary Clinton's quid pro quo for access to her as Secretary of State from foreign countries and corporations.
50
The wheels of justice turn slowly. The evidence will come out in due course.
9
The key to your complaint is "evidence produced and displayed to the public."
With the GOP-led investigations in Congress basically a sham to protect Trump, we have to wait for Mueller to produce and display, something he won't do until the end of the investigation. In the meantime, lets contemplate that four very close Trump campaign associates have already been indicted.
18
Let’s keep the herrings - red or blue - in their own jars, please.
5
In many other countries with principled and accountable democratic governments, the mere appearance of impropriety, treason, criminality, dishonesty, corruption or malfeasance from high ranking politicians is sufficient to lead to their downfall because of the fear public backlash.
US exceptionalism at work ?
10
The problem is, there has been a public backlash, but it has done no good. Short of riots in the street, I’m not sure what has to happen to get to the apparent financial corruption that this man has been involved in. If he’s not guilty of anything why is he fighting so hard to limit access to any information concerning his personal activity before taking the Oath of Office?
The article provides clear insight into a primary advantage Trump has over Congress and others of the Government. This is the likely reason he gets away with so much:
"Mr. Steele also reported [......] “the Kremlin had been feeding Trump and his team valuable intelligence on his opponents, including Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton.”
The Russians have fed TrumpCo all sorts of damaging information about his critics and adversaries, or for that matter, his allies.
Trump holds this "kompromat" over his rivals and with this, along with his wacky base (also a Russian construct), he possess much power over many in Congress and elsewhere.
This is the J Edgar Hoover technique that the Russians perfected back in the day and never stopped using. It is straight out of the Gangster Playbook.
Why in the world would the Russians stop providing Trump with this sort of dirt now? Trump is using this to his advantage, which the Russians see as their advantage too.
5
Note that despite the fact that the Clinton campaign partially funded Steele for this work, they never used the information in the campaign itself to try to publicly embarrass Trump. The Russian collusion was barely mentioned in the campaign (other than calling Trump Putin's puppet) and the Obama admin did not act openly on it during the campaign. If anything, the Dems were overly cautious.
14
I’m extremely concerned by reports today that Russian sources who risked their lives talking to Steele were murdered after their identities were made public when Buzzfeed published the dossier. Of course I’m glad we have the information in the dossier, but it wasn’t necessary for Buzzfeed to put sources’ lives at risk. I think Buzzfeed acted irresponsibly and opportunistically when they published the dossier — they wanted the hits and publicity and didn’t care whom they exposed. In fact, even the timing of this opinion piece is suspicious — it was published on the day we learned at least one of Steele’s sources was murdered. That’s low, Buzzfeed.
64
That's a pile of lies, gussied up to look like concern, "A." One source died, and there is no indication that it was murder other than from people trying to discredit the dossier.
3
I we suppress the truth every time Russia threatens to kill someone or out of fear that they might do that later, we would never get the truth any more. Russia is ruthless and kills its enemies on a regular basis. BuzzFeed was courageous and performed a huge public service in releasing the report.
2
Uh, you may not have noticed, but this opinion piece is published in The New York Times. So, if you have a beef, the beef is with The Times. If you had read the "dossier", you would know that no sources were revealed. In fact, it is questionable if sources were actually used to compile the "dossier". Steele himself "believes his dossier on Trump-Russia is [only] 70-90% correct".
All this does not justify publishing passages on an unverified (and probably unverifiable) encounter with prostitutes.
Let's remember that this dossier was compiled by a professional deceiver (= spy) based on interviews with unnamed sources, many of which are also professional deceivers. All these people by definition had hidden agendas - it's not like you leave the intelligence community and suddenly just become an independent curious citizen-detective.
If BuzzFeed had stuck to the political and potentially verifiable (or falsifiable) elements of the dossier, the decision to publish would arguably be justifiable. But not that prostitute encounter.
BTW, in the UK, publishing that would have lead to a conviction for libel.
1
Well said! When you publish something that many don’t want to believe - they often scream and yell to drown out what they don’t want to hear. As parents often say to children - it’s easier to be mad than sad. And the millions of Americans who fell for the Trump con will go from mad to sad - only then will they thank you for shedding light on these dark tales. Thank you for being on the side of light and truth.
3
The most likely explanation is that Steele was played for a fool by Russian intelligence, who fed him misinformation to discredit Trump much as they seem to have worked to discredit Clinton. The idea that Mr. Steele has sources inside the Kremlin risking their lives to treasonously share state secrets with him is laughable. In all likelihood, upon being contacted they would have simply asked the FSB what information to pass along. Whether Steele was vain and naive enough to believe he actually had access to Kremlin secrets or simply shameless enough to deliver what his client wanted for the right price is hard to know. But in any case, this means that Trump’s Republican opponents and later the Clinton campaign who financed the report thinking they were hiring James Bond instead not merely disseminated FSB propaganda, but--humiliatingly--actually paid for the privilege!
It doesn’t bother me that Mr. Smith published this, but a naïve pawn should at least spare us the self-aggrandizement. It doesn’t bother me either that the Russians, presented with this “golden” opportunity, had some fun with it. One has to give them credit for the outrageousness and humor of what they came up. Clearly they appreciated that doing further damage to Trump’s reputation was no small task.
After all, there is something deeply absurd about the assumption behind the dossier that the Russian government is aware of compromising information about Donald Trump. For god's sake, who isn’t?
5
Except, you know, that important parts of the dossier have been confirmed. So there is that.
Truth and transparency are the existential enemies of Donald Trump. The fact that Trump and his defenders are so outraged and defensive regarding the dossier information indicates to me that the information is substantially factual. The truth will be known. It is inevitable.
9
The Democrats are accusing the Trump campaign of collusion while they themselves are implicated in paying for opposition research from foreign nations involving both Fusion GPS and Ukraine. In fact the only evidence I've seen of quid pro quo involving Russia at this point is payments to the Clinton Foundation at the time the Hillary State Dept. was approving Uranium One or Bubba receiving $500K for his speech in Moscow. Manafort is being charged with tax evasion from 2013 while Flynn coerced into a guilty plea for lying about a conversation after the election about fighting ISIS.
Really guys?
This whole made up controversy is so riddled with bias, hypocrisy and dubious claims of legality it's difficult to know where to begin. But the truth is it isn't illegal to use foreign opposition research in a political campaign so long as that information was public. Unethical perhaps, but there is nothing illegal in doing so and thus far they have provided no evidence that anyone in the Trump campaign had any involvement in the DNC hack.
Many on the left also forget that Obama was mocking Mitt Romney's assertions that Russia was our "Greatest Geo-Political" enemy as recently as the 2012 election. There are many of us who sincerely believe that a belligerent posture towards Russia is harmful and that the U.S is often supporting the wrong side in these proxy conflicts with them. And we should not be attempting to criminalize political differences based on those policy differences.
3
You can take the blinders off any time now.
1
The great irony is that "conservatives" who have scared themselves to death over the prospect of "world government" and "black helicopters" have turned our government over to an international oligarchy headed by Vladimir Putin, the world's richest man. Thus, Putin is throwing in with the Koch Bros., Sheldon Adelson and other plutocrats who helped install their puppet, President Goldfinger. Does anyone really doubt that Putin pushed Brexit over the top or that he is systematically disassembling our foreign relations and alliances? You don't have to be James Bond to see the obvious pattern. Americans are divided into two camps: Those who are shocked at how powerless they are in our so-called democracy and those who think the puppet master is on their side.
4
Democracy depends on an informed electorate. While I adhere to journalistic policies regarding the publishing of truly erroneous information, the dossier clearly had sufficient factual information to publish. The document has been relied upon by the FBI as prima facie evidence to advance a formal investigation. I applaud Buzzfeed for their decision to Informa Americans of this assault on our electoral process. I sincerely hope this landmark decision to publish will motivate other mainstream media that the times they are a -changin’ and normal isn’t normal any longer. Fake news is the new tradition with the lies and deception of Trump and they must seek truth at any costs. Even if it offends older journalistic norms.
233
What portion of the "dossier" is clearly factual? The guy who wrote it, Christopher Steele, "believes his dossier is [only] 70-90% correct". You can read about it in The Guardian, Wed 15 Nov '17 11:52 EST.
1
"Even if it offends older journalistic norms."
Such as corroborating accusations? Wow.
In this day and age, I'm not sure if "the truth will set us free".
I'm glad you did too. We are living in a country with a corrupt government with cover ups and lawsuits to prevent us from learning the truth. Thank you!
1
it's important to keep in mind that the intent of the Russians to help Trump is enough to damage Trump and the US. Collusion by Trump or his staff is irrelevant. Trump is damaged simply by the fact that Putin wanted him to be President, and that alone would make him vulnerable to Russian attempts to manipulate policy down the road - as we have seen. Steele apparently recognized this and the fact that the Russians were clearly helping Trump was sufficiently damaging to US interests to justify alerting the FBI to the situation. Getting it into the public eye also reduces the opportunities for Russian meddling to some extent. Well done Steele, and well done BuzzFeed.
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One of issues raised is how is Trump remained solvent with all of bankruptcies and failed business ventures. This is one of the issues that Fusion GPS has raised and needs to be explored to know who has control of the Trump's.
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I find it therapeutic to imagine what archive footage of Trump's presidency will look like in 20 years time.
Imagine film footage 20 years from now comparing this clown with FDR, Eisenhower, JFK, and Reagan. Or any other president.
It's not difficult to imagine. Even without the benefit of hindsight.
The publication of the Russia dossier reported by Steele and others was a signal favor to the USA. It also is a signal that the Trump administration, indeed the entire GOP establishment, have been devoured by the termites of complacency and corruption. Once a critical mass of people has looked up from their tiny screens and thought about this issue for a few minutes, there may even be some support for the Special Prosecutor Mueller and perhaps some action.
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Sunlight / transparency treats many political illnesses.
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Too bad the press didn't apply the same "sunlight" to the Obama administration.
As a civil and criminal rights attorney and former prosecutor I was not surprised by the outrage over the Trump-Russian Dossier. People itching to lock up a barefoot homeless man for shoplifting a pair of shoes in the dead of winter are usually the first to rush and protect a dangerous criminal with connections to organized crime and powerful politicians. I went after a member of law enforcement who everyone knew was corrupt and had been brutalizing low-income citizens for decades. He had suffered no consequences even though he beat up a pregnant woman. A report known to exist detailing his crimes was impossible to locate. It wasn't logged anywhere and the hard file was missing. The report was prepared by another member of law enforcement. He knew the danger, yet wrote the report anyway. He'd personally witnessed the assault on the pregnant women. It was leaked to me over 5 years after being written and ultimately lead to that brutal and corrupt individual losing his job. When I heard people complain about the Trump-Russia Dossier, I thought: "Grow up. This is how you catch a powerful and dangerous criminal with powerful friends protecting him." Just as the crimes of the person I pursued were well known, Trump's criminal connections to Russia and Russian organized crime were well know too. It's why in 2011 Trump refunded 90 percent of $3.16 million in deposits for the Trump SoHo. He was guilty of fraud, having received his financing from Russia and convicted Russian felons.
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There are valid points on both sides. The public having access to the contents of the dossier, warts and all, does seem to serve the goals of transparency and freedom of information. Many who had reservations about its release do feel differently now, a year later, since over time the dossier has been a key factor in the bigger picture of unraveling the truth about Trump and his campaign. It is definitely not fake news. Yet, salacious details about consensual acts gratuitously released by one's political opponents are dirty politics.
Here's the difference though, in my book. If, hypothetically, such a dossier had existed on recent GOP presidential candidates John McCain or Mitt Romney, their overall behavior and adherence to rules of basic decency during their campaigns might have earned them a redaction of unvetted salacious info. But Trump had no qualms about ignoring such decency norms and he would say absolutely anything to smear opponents: the heinous birther lie, tales about the father of Ted Cruz, parading Bill Clinton's accusers around at a debate, boasting on tape about molesting women, etc.
The Russians possibly having the means by which to blackmail the president is a legitimate national concern. Trump's effusive praise of Putin during the campaign, the GOP's last minute pro-Russian changes to their platform and early inklings of what became an avalanche of confirmed meetings between the Trump campaign and Russian operatives seem to earn Buzzfeed a pass.
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I prefer reality and facts to fantasies. Truth is not a relative notion.
So from now on, one's impressions and feelings will supersede events.
I am appalled at the number of comments based on fiction and wishful thinking.
Any concerned citizen would see that the present narrative is to condemn and believe fallacies rather than see that what was printed was innuendos and false information.
It seems that all we need now are allegations. That is enough to conclude and condemn. It is the "air du temps". It's ok, as long as you are not subject to automatic condemnation.
I choose to wait and see what comes out of this redux fake storm.
Well said: live by the sword die by the sword.
Trump joked on tape years ago, before he was running for president. The rest of this is pretty much on the mark though/
The controversy about the dossier is a red herring in this crime story. While we all debate whether it's one hundred percent accurate or should have been released, we now know that the FBI was investigating collusion and corruption of a campaign team with a foreign agent before it even knew the dossier existed. The real question then becomes, as Mr. Smith states, do Americans really want "less insight into the forces at play in America." Everything else is mute.
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I still do not get why Putin and the Kremlin had such a desire to muck around in our elections given the fallout they could incur. I do not buy the supposition that they are trying to undermine our democracy as “the” reason. The Kremlin wanted something specific for getting Trump elected, and it wasn’t for grins and giggles in messing with the elections, and it wasn’t to mess around with democracy.
No, the Russians wanted Trump to deliver something quite specific to them, but what? Trump was worth the risk for Putin. So, what does Putin want from Trump, and how did Putin know Trump would deliver it? Putin would not have interfered unless he stood to get something massive from Trump as President. So, what does Putin want, and what does he have on Trump?
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I am so grateful for media like the New York Times, the Washington Post, Cable News Network, and even the tiny and fearless Palmer Report, for reporting the genuine and important news of the world. In so many other countries, this is not permitted. Freedom of the press, and free speech, is such a powerful eraser of false news. As has been said countless times, sunlight is the best disinfectant.
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None of the newspapers you cite report anything close to genuine and important news. They have all let their personal biases totally slant anything and everything printed in their papers. They are all just another arm of the Democrat National Committee. The advent of the internet has enable informed people to get the other side of the story.
People can spin anything any way that they want. I would be more concerned about things but I know that we have a truely independent council in RM and our FBI has a reputation to maintain. Leadership will lie and some to the point bordering on treason to protect thier power, but in the end, I believe that the truth will prevail. Lets just hope it does before we lose our Republic.
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I have heard more than enough to justify throwing this President and his family - and for good measure Pence included, since I find it impossible to believe he knew absolutely nothing about all these insidious proceedings - in jail for treason.
And if that doesn’t happen, then I am VERY impatient for our new Congress to start work on impeachment proceedings.
The next President’s job will be saddled with Restoring America Again.
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Regardless, erring on the side of publishing vs. not publishing is like erring on the side of forgetting to count a couple strokes on the golf course...and justifying it.
The dossier is a smoking gun that will be prima facie evidence against Trump and Russian interference in the 2016 election. Another time it was the Pentagon Papers and Daniel Ellsworth.
Mueller’s thoroughness in fleshing out the dossier decides whether #45 stays or goes.
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One thing is crystal clear, the Republicans have ensured Russia's success on their primary goal, “Russia’s goal all along has been to do damage to America and our leadership role in the world.”
A reasonable and objective person can not or should not believe we are more widely respected internationally today than under previous government administrations, if it were not so serious, it would be laughable. When one travels internationally or has the good fortune to visit with international visitors here at home, it doesn't take long to learn what they think of our international posture, and that is to say, our current Republican lead government is the laughing stock of the world!
Save a Republic, Remove a Republican.
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BuzFeed and Fusion GPs are the Washington Post of the Watergate era, a necessity for a healthy democracy.
Well, yes, it was good to know that the Trump campaign harbored traitors to the Republic. Now let's hope that they are removed from office because of the work of the press. But it looks as if many members of the GOP have little regard for the ideals they claim to uphold, and are instead attacking the press for bringing their perfidies to light.
The histrionic panic by the Republicans in congress to engage in their vociferous attack on Fusion GPS and Michael Steele substantiates the veracity of the Dossier. If it were false or "fake news" Trump would have nothing to worry about. But nothing of substance in the Dossier has been debunked, and Trump should start worrying big time. These GOPs are complicit in Trump's collusion with the Russians and the Russian's assault on our democracy. Some people say where's the proof that Trump is kowtowing to Putin? All you need to do is look at the sanctions the Senate passed 98-2 almost seven months ago. Trump has refused to act on them, just like Putin commands. There's your collusion.
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I agree with Buzzfeed. Every day it’s confirmed that we’re currently living in a time that will be a significant historical marker. And when future Americans wonder how we could have been so blind to an embezzling president, who was blackmailed by a foreign power, and who in turn blackmailed/threatened his own party to keep him in power - as we watchedhis party leaders either suddenly flip (Graham) or give up promising careers (Ryan, Flake, et al) - Buzzfeed’s action will be remembered as a sign that, yes, many Americans were paying attention and seriously worked at saving our country for future generations.
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Lights, camera, action! Should Trump & Co ever be brought to justice for its contemptuous attitude toward the rule of law and outraged (if ever comical) denials of the plain truth, BuzzFeed's courageous editors and journalists will figure in a major motion picture one day.
What I note about the Simpson transcript is that Republican interviewers spent a lot of fruitless time trying to associate Simpson with Russian intelligence actors and seemed uninterested in the validity of the accounts. Absurdly so. They seemed already to be preparing the smear.
That, and Steele's work was not as difficult as it seems in hindsight. Apparently there is almost a culture in Moscow of people who traffic in such. It was only later -- after the dossier's release -- and a former KGB director's killing -- that people started closing their mouths.
Something discussed in the Steele dossier that has received no media attention to my knowledge is the accusation that the Trump "team" passed information to Russian officials about Russian oligarchs and their families living in the US, as well as about their assets. This seems to me to be an incredibly serious allegation: that Trump employees, and perhaps family members, were in effect conducting espionage for a foreign power. Why is no attention given to this?
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