The Steele Dossier on Trump and Russia Is Looking More and More Real

[DonViejo]

By Jonathan Chait

December 7, 2017
10:28 am

When news surfaced at the beginning of the year that British intelligence agent turned private investigator Christopher Steele had compiled a report on Donald Trump’s ties to Russia, news reports immediately treated its findings as radioactive. The implications of Steele’s reporting were spy-movie-unreal: Trump was the subject of Russian financial and even sexual blackmail, and he and his advisers had been openly colluding with Moscow.

Two details in particular made the dossier seem suspect. First, its report that Trump had paid Russian prostitutes to urinate on a bed that had been used by Barack Obama. And second, the report alleged that Michael Cohen, a Trump crony with Russian contacts, had met in Prague with Russian intelligence officials. The golden-showers detail, while unconfirmed, seemed too bizarre to be plausible. And Cohen shot down the Prague allegation forcefully. The report of his meeting was “totally fake, totally inaccurate,” Cohen said, “I’m telling you emphatically that I’ve not been to Prague, I’ve never been to Czech [Republic], I’ve not been to Russia.”

Cohen’s denials helped shape skeptical coverage of the dossier. Here, for instance, in a New York Times story on the dossier, is the entire passage addressing its veracity:

There has been no public corroboration of the salacious allegations against Mr. Trump, nor of the specific claims about coordination between his associates and the Russians. In fact, some of those claims have been challenged with supporting evidence. For instance, Mr. Trump’s longtime personal lawyer, Michael D. Cohen, produced his passport to rebut the dossier’s claim that he had secret meetings in Prague with a Russian official last year.

But this hardly settles the question. A congressional investigation is digging into whether Cohen is telling the truth about the alleged visit to Prague. “Cohen’s passport would not show any record of a visit to Prague if he entered the EU through Italy, traveled to the Czech Republic, and then returned to his point of EU entry,” reports Politico, in a passage that’s received less attention than merited. “A congressional official said the issue is ‘still active’ for investigators.”

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http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2017/12/the-steele-dossier-on-trump-is-looking-more-and-more-real.html

[Renew Deal]

1. Has anything in the dossier been proven false?

Last I heard the answer was no. Not one thing.

[Me.]

2. Well D'uh

So much for all the naysayers

[gibraltar72]

3. I believe Rachel

is doing a show on the dossier tomorrow night. They are gonna tick off the things that have been found to be correct. Even the author didn't make the claim it was 100%. It was raw data that needed further investigation.

[DeminPennswoods]

4. Maddow is doing her show on the dossier tonight

The prostitute claim was at least partially confirmed by Keith Schiller, Trump's ex-bodyguard. Schiller said the Russians offered to send Trump women, but they both laughed it off and declined. Schiller said he was outside Trump's door that evening and no one entered, but Schiller also admitted he wasn't there all night.

So, is it true? Still probably not, but with Schiller's sworn testimony, it's now within the realm of possibility.

[RandomAccess]

6. I think that show is Friday

[NastyRiffraff]

7. It is, in Rachel's normal time slot

It looks like a must see. But what will Rachel do if there's breaking news? (Trump resigns! I can dream, can't I?)

[DeminPennswoods]

8. Yes, Friday

nt

[RandomAccess]

5. Newsflash for Chait and the rest of the milquetoast media

The dossier has ALWAYS been considered to be up to 90% accurate because of its provenance:


The Guardian: source for 35 page "dossier" is "consistently reliable, meticulous,
and well informed."

Senator John McCain passed documents to the FBI director, James Comey, last month alleging secret contacts between the Trump campaign and Moscow and that Russian intelligence had personally compromising material on the president-elect himself.

The material, which has been seen by the Guardian, is a series of reports on Trump’s relationship with Moscow. They were drawn up by a former western counter-intelligence official, now working as a private consultant.

The Guardian has not been able to confirm the veracity of the documents’ contents, and the Trump team has consistently denied any hidden contacts with the Russian government.

... An official in the US administration who spoke to the Guardian described the source who wrote the intelligence report as consistently reliable, meticulous and well-informed, with a reputation for having extensive Russian contacts.

Some of the reports – which are dated from 20 June to 20 October last year – also proved to be prescient, predicting events that happened after they were sent.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/jan/10/fbi-chief-given-dossier-by-john-mccain-alleging-secret-trump-russia-contacts?CMP=share_btn_tw


And think about it: a bunch of Russians died soon after its release.

Damn I wish reporters would do a little more news CONSUMPTION so they're better informed.

[OnDoutside]

9. Do we know if Cohen was at least IN Europe at that time ?