Hillary's Steele Dossier: Legal Or Criminal?

Hillary Clinton's 2016 presidential campaign and the Democratic National Committee (DNC) have been fined for violating campaign finance law by misreporting spending on research that became the infamous Steele dossier. The dossier, compiled by former British spy Christopher Steele, 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 was fined $8,000 and the DNC $105,000, according to a letter sent by the Federal Election Commission (FEC) to a conservative group that requested an inquiry. The FEC concluded that the Clinton campaign and DNC misreported the money that funded the dossier, masking it as legal services and legal and compliance consulting instead of opposition research.

The money trail behind the Steele dossier has been a subject of intense political scrutiny for years. More than $1 million flowed from the Clinton campaign and DNC to the law firm Perkins Coie, which then hired the opposition research company Fusion GPS. That company later hired Steele and asked him to use his overseas contacts to dig up dirt about Trump's ties to Russia.

Hillary Clinton's 2016 campaign and the DNC were fined for misreporting the money that funded the dossier

Hillary Clinton's 2016 presidential campaign and the Democratic National Committee (DNC) were fined for misreporting the money that funded the dossier. The Federal Election Commission (FEC) fined the Clinton campaign $8,000 and the DNC $105,000 for not properly disclosing the money they spent on the dossier.

The dossier, compiled by retired British spy Christopher Steele, 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 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 never conceded that they violated campaign finance laws but agreed to drop their pushback and accept the civil fines. A DNC spokesperson played down the decision, saying they had "settled aging and silly" complaints about the 2016 election.

The Clinton campaign and the DNC paid a law firm which then commissioned opposition research on Donald Trump

The Clinton campaign and the Democratic National Committee (DNC) paid a law firm, Perkins Coie, which then commissioned opposition research on Donald Trump. The Clinton campaign agreed to a civil penalty of $8,000 and the DNC to a penalty of $105,000, totalling $113,000, to settle a Federal Election Commission (FEC) investigation into whether they had violated campaign finance law by misreporting spending on research that became the infamous Steele dossier.

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 initial complaint against the Democrats 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 and the DNC argued that the payments had been described accurately but agreed to settle without conceding to avoid further legal costs. The documents relating to the settlement have not yet been made public.

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 allegations about ties between the Trump campaign and Russia.

The FBI invested significant resources in attempting to corroborate the dossier and relied on it substantially to obtain surveillance warrants targeting former Trump campaign aide Carter Page. However, since its publication, core aspects of the dossier have been exposed as unsupported and unproven rumours.

The Clinton campaign and the DNC argued that the payments had been described accurately, but agreed to settle to avoid further legal costs

The Clinton campaign and the DNC argued that the payments had been described accurately, but they agreed to settle without conceding to avoid further legal costs. The Clinton campaign agreed to a civil penalty of $8,000, while the DNC was fined $105,000. The settlement came after the Federal Election Commission (FEC) investigated alleged misreporting of expenditure by the campaign during the 2016 election.

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 initial complaint against the Democrats 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 Steele dossier was a report compiled by former British spy Christopher Steele

The dossier was based on information from initially anonymous sources known to Steele, and his "primary sub-source", Igor Danchenko. Steele, a former head of the Russia Desk for British intelligence (MI6), was writing the report for the private investigative firm Fusion GPS, that was paid by Hillary Clinton's campaign and the Democratic National Committee (DNC). The dossier's 17 reports allege that Trump campaign members and Russian operatives had conspired to cooperate in Russia's election interference to benefit Trump. It also alleges that Russia sought to damage Hillary Clinton's candidacy.

The dossier was published by BuzzFeed News on January 10, 2017, without Steele's permission. Their decision to publish the reports without verifying the allegations was criticized by journalists. However, a judge defended BuzzFeed's action on the basis that the dossier was part of an official proceeding, and therefore "protected by fair reporting privilege".

The FBI invested significant resources attempting to corroborate the dossier

The FBI invested significant resources in attempting to corroborate the Steele dossier. The dossier was a report compiled by former British spy Christopher Steele and financed by Democrats. It contained unverified and salacious allegations about Donald Trump's conduct in Russia and alleged ties between the Trump campaign and Russia.

The FBI took the allegations seriously and investigated every line of the dossier. They identified and spoke with at least two of Steele's sources. The dossier was also used as a roadmap for the FBI's investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 US elections.

The FBI's investigation into the dossier led to the discovery of some corroborating evidence. For example, the dossier's allegations that Russia was interfering in the 2016 election to help elect Trump were later corroborated by the US intelligence community.

However, the dossier has been largely discredited since its publication, with core aspects of the material exposed as unsupported and unproven rumors.

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