Senate Judiciary chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, has accused Fusion GPS founder Glenn Simpson of providing the committee with “extremely misleading testimony” that borders on being an “outright lie,” a new report claims.
According to Fox News, Grassley made the claim in a recent letter to Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., in response to concerns Coons had raised about Donald Trump Jr.’s testimony before the committee.
[Byron York: What Glenn Simpson said about that ‘human source’ inside the Trump campaign]
Coons had originally asked Grassley to call the president’s eldest son to testify a second time in regard to his knowledge of potential foreign meddling in the 2016 campaign. Coons worried that new reports indicate Trump Jr.’s original statements about meetings he took part in on behalf of the campaign were not truthful.
In his followup letter, Grassley essentially shot down Coons’ request by pointing out Simpson’s own lack of candor.
Despite testifying that he did not continue conducting opposition research on then-President-elect Trump after the election, “Fusion actually did continue Trump dossier work for a new client after the election,” Grassley wrote, citing FBI sources.
After initially being hired by Republicans, Simpson and Fusion GPS were paid to compile an infamous dossier which was later central to the FBI’s efforts to procure warrants on Trump campaign officials from Foreign Intelligence Surveillance courts.
Grassley further referenced in his letter the criminal referral for Steele he sent to the Justice Department in January, noting, “We once again have two seemingly contradictory statements in contexts where material lies are criminal.”
“I would welcome your views on what actions you are willing to take with regard to Mr. Simpson’s testimony.”
Both Simpson and Trump Jr. could be slapped with fines and a prison stint of up to eight years if found guilty of intentionally providing false information to Congress.
