“Had Orbis been given the opportunity to respond in a private session, the statements by the Primary Sub-Source would be put in a different light. The Primary Sub-Source’s debriefings by Orbis were meticulously documented and recorded.”

Counsel for Christopher Steele and Orbis Business Intelligence (December 10 2019)

Lawyer Hugh Tomlinson: “But none of these documents [mentioned in the rebuttal to the IG report] exist, so they have all been destroyed?”

Christopher Steele :“They no longer exist. That is my assertion, indeed my assertion under oath.”

British Court (March 18 2020)

“I think it was the CIA [John Brennan] pushing this, real intelligence experts looked at this and said no, this is not intelligence, this is garbage and they took it out. But in this process, the idea that they would include something like that in one of the great stellar intelligence assessments as Mueller also found out is highly questionable. Needs to be investigated.”

Bob Woodward (April 2019)

April 26 2019 — “Watergate” journalist Bob Woodward told this week’s edition of “Fox News Sunday” that the role the Steele dossier played in the origin of the Trump-Russia investigation is “highly questionable” and “needs to be investigated.” Follow us on Twitter: @INTEL_TODAY

RELATED POST: Two Years Ago — The Trump Dossier : Raw Intelligence or Clever Fabrication? — POLL [UPDATE — Chris Steele Gets Cold Feet]

RELATED POST: Intel Report Suspiciously Anachronistic

RELATED POST: CIA Accusations are Unproven, Dangerous and Beyond Hypocrisy

RELATED POST: Fake News: FBI and DHS release ‘evidence’ of Russia Interference

RELATED POST: Two Years Ago — From Watergate to… GoldenGate?

RELATED POST: Bob Woodward: Trump Dossier Is a ‘Garbage Document’ — “Intelligence Chiefs Should ‘Apologize’ to Trump”

RELATED POST: Seymour Hersh: “Russia Election Hack is a CIA Hoax” [UPDATE — CIA Baer and FBI Marquise]

UPDATE (July 9 2020) — Yesterday, a British court ruled that Christopher Steele must pay damages to two Alfa Bank partners for publishing “inaccurate or misleading” material in his infamous dossier, including claims the banks funneled “illicit cash” to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Justice Mark Warby of the High Court of England and Wales concluded that the allegation about the Putin payments “clearly called for closer attention, a more enquiring approach and more energetic checking.”

“Orbis failed to take reasonable steps in this regard, and to that extent, a breach of the Fourth Principle is established.”

Kevin R. Brock is a former assistant director of intelligence for the FBI. He was an FBI special agent for 24 years and principal deputy director of the National Counter-terrorism Center (NCTC).

Brock believes that the Durham investigation will come to the following conclusion:

“A group of people aligned with or sympathetic to one political party conspired to illicitly use the authorities of the FBI to besmirch the opposing party’s presidential candidate — and that every effort should be made to indict those who can be charged as a result.”

Stay tuned!

END of UPDATE

The ‘Trump dossier’ consists of a series of unsigned memos that appear to have been written between June and December 2016.

The dossier contains lurid and mostly hard-to-prove allegations.

– – –

Prior to the release of the Mueller’s report, Intel Today ran a poll: “Is the Steele dossier a genuine work of intelligence or a piece of disinformation?”

Most readers (84%) answered — correctly as we now know — that the dossier is a piece of disinformation.

CHRIS WALLACE: President Trump kicking off what may be the next chapter of the Russia probe, looking into why the FBI launched the investigation and we are back now with the panel. Well, Mr. Woodward, more than two years ago back in January of 2017 when the Steele dossier first surfaced, I remember you saying right here on the show that it is a “garbage document.” Do you feel that the Mueller report basically discredited it, and to what degree do you think it played a role in the Russia investigation?

BOB WOODWARD: That’s what’s going to be investigated by lots of people, including the attorney general and including Senator Lindsey Graham.

CHRIS WALLACE: The inspector general is also doing it.

WOODWARD: And it should be. What I out recently, which was really quite surprising, the dossier, which really has got a lot of garbage in it and Mueller found that to be the case, early in building the intelligence community assessment on Russian interference in an early draft, they actually put the dossier on page two in kind of a breakout box. I think it was the CIA pushing this, real intelligence experts looked at this and said no, this is not intelligence, this is garbage and they took it out. But in this process, the idea that they would include something like that in one of the great stellar intelligence assessments as Mueller also found out is highly questionable. Needs to be investigated.

Earlier this month (April 2019), Attorney General William Barr told Congress that he has formed a team within the Department of Justice to look into the origins of the counter-intelligence investigation, and mentioned the dossier specifically as a point of inquiry.

Bob Woodward : “Role Of Steele Dossier In Russia Probe Needs To Be Investigated”

UPDATE (April 25 2020) — Lies, lies, and more lies. Just when you think it cannot get worse, it does!

Christopher Steele admitted under oath in March [2020] that he had no records of his conversations with the primary sub-source for his infamous dossier, contradicting public claims made by his lawyers in December [2019] and sowing further doubts amid allegations that Steele relied on Russian disinformation.

According to a transcript of a British court deposition obtained by the Daily Caller, Steele admitted to a lawyer representing three Russian bankers that he had no records to back up the salacious allegations made in his dossier, all of which were fed to him by one “primary sub-source” who allegedly obtained the information from other sources in Russia, none of whom Steele ever met.

Steele submitted to the deposition after the Russian bankers sued him for defamation for claiming they made illegal payments to Vladimir Putin in his now infamous dossier.

Steele said he had no records related to the creation of his dossier memos, including “Report 112” from the dossier, which dealt with the Alfa Bank owners.

“You have no record of anything, have you?” Tomlinson asked.

“I haven’t got any records relating to the creation of 112,” said Steele.

“Or indeed any of the other memoranda?”

“No, they were wiped in early January 2017.”

Steele said that a Hushmail account he used in late December 2016 was “wiped” clean.

He also said that communications with Fusion GPS on his company’s computer network were scrubbed on January 5, 2017.

The ’25-page’ US Intel Report released on January 6 2017 was always suspicious.

This “Intel Report” is in fact 5 pages long and the document contains 7 pages of information related to the 2012 US election?!?

RELATED POST: Three Years Ago — Russiagate Intel Report Suspiciously Anachronistic

It is now clear that John Brennan intended to use the Steele Dossier right at the beginning (on page 2), but intelligence analysts pushed back because it is garbage, not intelligence.

And without the Steele Dossier, there was nothing to write.

REFERENCES

The Russiagate Debacle — Le Monde Diplomatique

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The Russiagate Debacle — Bob Woodward : “Role Of Steele Dossier In Russia Probe Needs To Be Investigated”

One Year Ago — Bob Woodward : “Role Of Steele Dossier In Russia Probe Needs To Be Investigated” [UPDATE : All Steele/Orbis records were wiped out]

Bob Woodward : “Role Of Steele Dossier In Russia Probe Needs To Be Investigated” [UPDATE : Steele ordered to pay damages over ‘inaccurate’ dossier claims]