Senate Democrats Release Full Testimony In Russian Collusion Probe
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WASHINGTON, D.C. (CBSMiami) -- California Senator Dianne Feinstein went against the wishes of her Republican counterpart on the Judiciary Committee and released the entire transcript of the testimony of a key figure in the Russia collusion probe.
More than 300 pages of transcribed testimony from Fusion GPS founder Glenn Simpson was made public Tuesday.
Hillary Clinton's campaign hired Fusion GPS in April 2016 to do research into Donald Trump. Fusion GPS then hired Christopher Steele, a former British spy to investigate Mr. Trump's past.
Steele compiled a dossier, which claimed among other things, that the Russians had compromising information on Trump.
Simpson testified that Steele took his dossier to the FBI because he was concerned it could be a national security threat.
Simpson said that the FBI believed Steele's "...information might be credible because they had other intelligence that indicated the same thing and one of those pieces of intelligence was a human source from inside the Trump organization."
Senator Dianne Feinstein, the ranking member of the Judiciary Committee, unilaterally made the decision to release the transcript of Simpson's testimony.
She wrote, "The innuendo and misinformation circulating about the transcript are part of a deeply troubling effort to undermine the investigation into potential collusion and obstruction of justice. The only way to set the record straight is to make the transcript public."
In a statement, Fusion GPS said it "commends Sen. Feinstein for her courage. The transcript of Glenn Simpson's lengthy responses to the Senate Judiciary Committee's questioning speaks for itself."
The President and his allies have challenged the information contained in the dossier and have launched investigations into Fusion GPS's role in the campaign.
"This investigation into Mr. Simpson began as a desperate smear campaign by Mr. Trump and his allies because of Fusion GPS's connection to the so-called Trump dossier," said Josh Levy, Glenn Simpson's attorney on August 22, 2017.
The President maintains there was no collusion with Russia and the Mueller investigation is politically motivated.
White House spokesperson Sarah Sanders declined to comment on the release of the Simpson testimony saying she had not yet had any conversations about the transcripts with the president.
