Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton blasted British Prime Minister Boris Johnson for the delayed release of a report on Russian interference in United Kingdom politics that contains evidence from Trump dossier author Christopher Steele.
The report, which analyzes potential Russian attempts to influence the 2016 Brexit referendum, was conducted by the Intelligence and Security Committee of Parliament. Said to be held up by a six-week signoff process that would put its release after next month’s general election, some of Johnson’s critics have accused his government of a cover-up.
Clinton, whose 2016 presidential campaign was targeted by a Russian propaganda effort, also voiced her dismay, telling the Guardian that waiting to produce the report until after the Dec. 12 election is “incredibly surprising and unacceptable.”
“Who do they think they are that they would keep information like that from the public, especially before an election?” Clinton said. “Well, I’ll tell you who they think they are. They think that they are the all-powerful, strong men who should be ruling.”
One leak about the report shows investigators found nine Russian oligarchs gave large sums of money to Johnson’s Conservative Party. Another report from BuzzFeed said the U.K.’s intelligence agencies were unable to find evidence that Russia interfered in the outcome of the Brexit vote or the 2017 general election.
Steele, the former head of MI6’s Russia desk who now runs a private intelligence firm in London, is believed to have made submissions for the report, according to the Guardian.
Steele is well known in the United States for the research he conducted on President Trump after being contracted by opposition research firm Fusion GPS. His research was funded, in part, by Clinton’s campaign and the Democratic National Committee through the Perkins Coie law firm.
His resulting dossier contained claims that Russia possessed damaging information about Trump, including a so-called pee tape, that could be used as blackmail. BuzzFeed published the dossier in January 2017 while noting it could not verify or disprove the claims.
The FBI relied on the dossier to obtain warrants to electronically surveil onetime Trump campaign adviser Carter Page, who was suspected of being a Russian agent, despite some officials believing some of Steele’s information may have been based on “Russian disinformation.” Former FBI Director James Comey defended the bureau’s use of the dossier, arguing that its findings were “consistent with our other intelligence.” Although former special counsel Robert Mueller undercut two of the biggest claims in Steele’s dossier, his report corroborated its central tenet: that Russia sought to interfere in the 2016 election to undermine Clinton and boost Trump.
The FBI’s use of Steele’s dossier was a subject of investigation by Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz, whose report is expected to be released as early as this month. His findings may influence U.S. Attorney John Durham’s criminal inquiry into the origins of the FBI’s Russia investigation.
