Sara Carter – Ranking Republican of the House Intelligence Committee Devin Nunes sent a letter Wednesday to President Donald Trump, asking him to question British Prime Minister Theresa May about Great Britain’s role in the FBI’s investigation into the Trump campaign and Russia.
The inquiry would be significant and it is based on newly published information in the British newspaper The Telegraph revealing that former British spy Christopher Steele briefed May’s spy chiefs on the uncorroborated dossier.
“The article states that Steele’s information was rapidly briefed up the chain to multiple high-level British government officials, including MI5 Director General Andrew Parker and MI6 Chief Alex Younger,” stated Nunes in the letter. “The claims asserted in the Telegraph article, if true raise important questions about the potential role foreign government officials may have played in spreading the dossier’s false allegations and what actions they may have taken in response to the allegations.”
Nunes told SaraACarter.com that the “truth about the Steele dossier and the surveillance against the Trump team has to come out.”
“The American people need to know how this hoax began, who perpetrated it, and whether any foreign governments or intelligence services were involved,” Nunes added.
What Did John Brennan Know?
It also raises significant questions regarding former CIA Director John Brennan’s role and knowledge regarding the dossier. Brennan’s former Deputy Chief of Staff Nick Shapiro told SaraACarter.com in August, 2018 that the former director was not aware of the contents of the Steele dossier until December, 2016.
This reporter asked Shapiro “was Brennan even aware that a dossier existed – I mean Steele was shopping it around all summer – I even knew about it.”
“He only even knew it existed because he heard members of the media bring it up,” Shapiro said. “Former FBI Director Comey has said publicly that he wanted to make sure President Obama and Trump knew about the dossier. Comey decided to attach it to the IC Assessment. There was even talk of including it as part of the IC Assessment but Brennan (and Clapper) in fact were the ones who didn’t allow the dossier to be part of the it, and they didn’t allow that because they said the information wasn’t verified intelligence and that wasn’t what the IC Assessment was about.”
A former senior U.S. intelligence official said “if the British intelligence community knew about the dossier, it’s certain that Brennan also knew of its existence and contents. It would be hard to believe that the CIA director had no idea about an overseas assessment, put together by former British spy and briefed to our allies intelligence agencies.
Another former U.S. intelligence emphasized that the United States has “a special relationship with the British government that was established in 1945 – it has us joined at the hip with the five eyes. It’s by design and designed at the end of WWII when we created the CIA and our allies from WWII are all woven into this relationship. We have good relationships with many countries but we have a unique relationship with the Five Eyes.”
The intelligence official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said for “something this significant to surface in London it is just not possible the director of the agency, and the chief of station in London would not know about it.”
“This is explosive information on the U.S. political system and our intelligence agencies would have been informed,” the official added.
Trey Gowdy Wants To Know How Many Times Dossier Was Used
Those facts are now in dispute and former congressman Trey Gowdy said in an interview with Fox New’s Maria Bartiromo Sunday that it was imperative to find out the extent of the dossier’s use. He called out former FBI Director James Comey, former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper and Brennan.
He said “people use the word dossier” to give it an official meaning.
“I mean let’s just call it for what it is,” said Gowdy. “It’s a series of rank hearsay compilations put together by an FBI source who was later defrocked. Paid for by the Democrat National Committee then oh by the way Christopher Steele hated Donald Trump too so that we can call it a dossier. It sounds official.”
Questions Trump Should Ask Prime Minister May (Nunes Letter):
♦ Did Christopher Steele inform any current or former British intelligence or government officials about the allegations he put forward in the Steele dossier or any other allegations about President Trump or Trump campaign associates colluding with Russians? If so, describe what action British officials took in response to this information.
♦ Did any current or former British intelligence or government officials discuss with Christopher Steele the possibility of Steele writing additional memos about President Trump or Trump associates colluding with Russians? If so, what guidance did British officials give to Steele and when was this guidance provided?
♦ Did any current or former U.S. government or intelligence officials inform any current or former British government or intelligence officials about Steele’s allegations or any other allegations about President Trump or Trump campaign associates colluding with Russians, if other such allegations exist? If so, describe the circumstances and timing of this communication and any resulting action that was taken.
♦ Is the British government aware of, did it give permission for, or did it participate in, activities by any government to surveil or otherwise target active or former associates of the Trump campaign, if any such surveillance or activities took place?
♦ Did any current or former British intelligence or government officials relay classified or unclassified information to any current or former U.S. officials about alleged contacts between Trump associates and suspected Russian intelligence officials, if any such information exists? If so, when was the information relayed and how was this information collected?
♦ Describe any communications or relationship, if any, Joseph Mifsud (potentially also known as Joseph di Gabriele) has had with British intelligence and any information the British government possesses about Mifsud’s connection to any other government or intelligence agency.
♦ Did any current or former British officials provide an assessment of Christopher Steele, including a determination of his credibility or motivations, to any current or former U.S. intelligence, law enforcement, or government officials, or presidential transition team members?
SF Source Sara Carter May 2019