Fusion GPS: Request for criminal probe is 'attempt to discredit government sources'

Source: The Hill




BY AVERY ANAPOL - 01/05/18 02:17 PM EST

The research firm behind the controversial Trump-Russia dossier is calling the request from two GOP senators to open a criminal investigation into its author an “attempt to discredit government sources.”

Republican Sens. Chuck Grassley (Iowa) and Lindsey Graham (S.C.) on Friday sent a letter to the Justice Department seeking a criminal probe into Christopher Steele, a former British intelligence agent, to investigate whether he lied to federal authorities.

“After a year of investigations into Donald Trump’s ties to Russia, the only person Republicans seek to accuse of wrongdoing is one who reported on these matters to law enforcement in the first place,” a lawyer for Fusion GPS said in a statement.

“Publicizing a criminal referral based on classified information raises serious questions about whether this letter is nothing more than another attempt to discredit government sources, in the midst of an ongoing criminal investigation. We should all be skeptical in the extreme,” the statement adds.

Read more: http://thehill.com/homenews/senate/367640-fusion-gps-gop-request-for-a-criminal-investigation-is-an-attempt-to