Clinton Campaign's Steele Dossier Payment: Law Broken?

Hillary Clinton's 2016 presidential campaign and the Democratic National Committee (DNC) were fined $113,000 by the Federal Election Commission (FEC) for misreporting spending on research that became the infamous Steele dossier. The Clinton campaign agreed to pay $8,000, and the DNC $105,000.

The Clinton campaign hired Perkins Coie, which then hired Fusion GPS, a research and intelligence firm, to conduct opposition research on Republican candidate Donald Trump's ties to Russia. However, on FEC forms, the Clinton campaign classified the spending as legal services.

The Steele dossier was a report compiled by former British spy Christopher Steele and financed by Democrats. It included salacious allegations about Trump's conduct in Russia and alleged ties between the Trump campaign and Russia.

While the FBI invested significant resources in attempting to corroborate the dossier, it has since been largely discredited, with core aspects of the material exposed as unsupported and unproven rumours.

The Clinton campaign and the DNC were fined for misreporting the purpose of certain disbursements related to the Steele dossier

The Coolidge Reagan Foundation filed an administrative complaint in 2018, accusing the Democrats of misreporting payments made to a law firm during the 2016 campaign to obscure the spending. The Clinton campaign hired Perkins Coie, which then hired Fusion GPS, a research and intelligence firm, to conduct opposition research on Republican candidate Donald Trump's ties to Russia. However, on FEC forms, the Clinton campaign classified the spending as legal services.

The Clinton campaign and DNC argued that the payments had been described accurately, but they agreed to settle without conceding to avoid further legal costs. The FEC concluded that the Clinton campaign and DNC had misreported the money that funded the dossier, masking it as "legal services" and "legal and compliance consulting" instead of opposition research.

The Clinton campaign and the DNC hired Perkins Coie, which then hired Fusion GPS, to conduct opposition research on Donald Trump's ties to Russia

In 2016, the Clinton campaign and the DNC paid Perkins Coie more than $1 million, which was then passed on to Fusion GPS. Fusion GPS was hired to conduct opposition research on then-presidential candidate Donald Trump and his ties to Russia.

The Clinton campaign and the DNC were fined in 2022 for not properly disclosing the money they spent on the research that led to the infamous Trump-Russia dossier. The DNC was fined $105,000 and the Clinton campaign was fined $8,000.

The dossier was compiled by retired British spy Christopher Steele and contained unverified and salacious allegations about Donald Trump, including claims that his campaign colluded with the Kremlin to win the 2016 election.

The Clinton campaign and the DNC never conceded that they violated campaign finance laws, but they agreed to drop their pushback and accept the civil fines.

The Clinton campaign and the DNC had argued that the payments had been described accurately

The Clinton campaign and the DNC had been accused of misreporting payments made to a law firm during the 2016 campaign to obscure the spending. The Clinton campaign had hired Perkins Coie, which then hired Fusion GPS, a research and intelligence firm, to conduct opposition research on Republican candidate Donald Trump's ties to Russia. But on FEC forms, the Clinton campaign classified the spending as legal services.

The initial complaint had read:

> "By intentionally obscuring their payments through Perkins Coie and failing to publicly disclose the true purpose of those payments," the campaign and DNC "were able to avoid publicly reporting on their statutorily required FEC disclosure forms the fact that they were paying Fusion GPS to perform opposition research on Trump with the intent of influencing the outcome of the 2016 presidential election."

The Clinton campaign agreed to a civil penalty of $8,000 and the DNC to $105,000

Hillary Clinton's 2016 presidential campaign and the Democratic National Committee (DNC) agreed to pay $113,000 to settle a Federal Election Commission (FEC) investigation into whether they had violated campaign finance law by misreporting spending on research that eventually became the infamous Steele dossier. The Clinton campaign agreed to a civil penalty of $8,000, and the DNC to $105,000, according to a pair of conciliatory agreements that were attached to the letter sent to the Coolidge Reagan Foundation.

The Clinton campaign hired Perkins Coie, which then hired Fusion GPS, a research and intelligence firm, to conduct opposition research on Republican candidate Donald Trump's ties to Russia. However, on FEC forms, the Clinton campaign classified the spending as legal services.

The Coolidge Reagan Foundation filed an administrative complaint in 2018, accusing the Democrats of misreporting payments made to a law firm during the 2016 campaign to obscure the spending. The initial complaint alleged that:

> "By intentionally obscuring their payments through Perkins Coie and failing to publicly disclose the true purpose of those payments," the campaign and DNC "were able to avoid publicly reporting on their statutorily required FEC disclosure forms the fact that they were paying Fusion GPS to perform opposition research on Trump with the intent of influencing the outcome of the 2016 presidential election."

The Clinton campaign and DNC denied the allegations, arguing that the payments had been described accurately. However, they agreed to settle without conceding to avoid further legal costs.

The Steele dossier was compiled by former British spy Christopher Steele and financed by Democrats

The Steele dossier was compiled by former British spy Christopher Steele and financed by the Democratic Party. It was commissioned by Hillary Clinton's 2016 presidential campaign and the Democratic National Committee (DNC), who paid a research and intelligence firm, Fusion GPS, to conduct opposition research on Republican candidate Donald Trump's ties to Russia.

Steele, a former head of the Russia Desk for British intelligence (MI6), was hired as a subcontractor by Fusion GPS to use his overseas contacts to dig up dirt about Trump's ties to Russia. The dossier was based on information from anonymous sources, including Igor Danchenko, who was Steele's "primary sub-source".

The dossier included salacious and unverified allegations about Trump's conduct in Russia and alleged ties between the Trump campaign and Russia. It was leaked to the public by BuzzFeed News in January 2017 and has since been largely discredited, with core aspects of the material exposed as unsupported and unproven rumours.

Clinton's campaign and the DNC were fined by the Federal Election Commission (FEC) for misreporting the purpose of certain disbursements related to the Steele dossier. They agreed to pay a total of $113,000 in fines without conceding to the allegations.

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