President Trump said it was “very disrespectful” for Sen. Dianne Feinstein to release the transcript of Fusion GPS founder Glenn Simpson’s testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee and knocked the California Democrat for blaming her actions in part on a cold.
“Democrat Dianne Feinstein should never have released secret committee testimony to the public without authorization,” Trump tweeted Thursday night. “Very disrespectful to committee members and possibly illegal. She blamed her poor decision on the fact she had a cold – a first!”
Democrat Dianne Feinstein should never have released secret committee testimony to the public without authorization. Very disrespectful to committee members and possibly illegal. She blamed her poor decision on the fact she had a cold – a first!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 12, 2018
Trump has been on a tear against Feinstein over the past couple days, calling her “Sneaky Dianne Feinstein” on Wednesday.
“The fact that Sneaky Dianne Feinstein, who has on numerous occasions stated that collusion between Trump/Russia has not been found, would release testimony in such an underhanded and possibly illegal way, totally without authorization, is a disgrace,” the president tweeted.
Trump’s campaign is being looked at by a federal and congressional investigations for possible collusion during the 2016 election. Trump denies being involved in collusion and has called the special counsel inquiry a “witch hunt.”
Fusion GPS is the opposition research firm that hired former British intelligence officer Christopher Steele to write the so-called “Trump dossier,” which contains a number of salacious and unverified claims about Trump’s ties to Russia which could make him vulnerable to blackmail.
Feinstein released the Fusion GPS transcript after Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, refused to heed calls by Simpson and Democrats to release the record of the August 2017 interview. Feinstein said her actions came amid frustration with “the innuendo and misinformation circulating about the transcript.”
Trump’s reference to Feinstein’s illness appears to be a response to what the senator told reporters on Wednesday about wanting to find Grassley and apologize to him for releasing it without informing him beforehand.
“The one regret I have is that I should have spoke with Sen. Grassley before. And I don’t make an excuse but I’ve had a bad cold and maybe that slowed down my mental facilities a little bit,” she said.
Meanwhile, Grassley has sought more information about the testimony after its credibility came into question.
Grassley sent a letter Thursday to Fusion GPS lawyer Joshua Levy concerning Simpson’s testimony, where Simpson claimed Steele was told that the FBI had a voluntary walk-in source from inside the Trump Organization or campaign that confirmed aspects of the dossier.
Grassley noted that while some news outlets initially reported “a voluntary walk-in source from inside the Trump Organization or campaign” “as fact,” subsequent reporting cited “a source close to Fusion GPS” claiming that Simpson mischaracterized the source and that he was actually referring to the Australian diplomat that reportedly provided information to the FBI about a conversation he exchanged with Trump campaign adviser, George Papadopoulos.
Grassley asked in his letter whether the original statement to the committee was accurate. If not, Grassley wants to know how Levy and Fusion GPS realized there was a mistake in the transcript and whether that occurred before or after they reviewed the transcript for roughly 14 hours.
The letter requests that Levy and Simspon respond by Jan. 18.
