Letter to the editor: Clarifying dossier issue

The article “Analyst who aided Trump-Russia dossier charged with lying” (Nov. 4, TribLIVE) needs clarification. Let’s start at the beginning.

The amount of communication between President Trump’s campaign and Russia set off red flags inside the FBI. In May 2016, Trump campaign aide George Papadopoulos told the Australian commissioner to the UK that the campaign had incriminating information about Hillary Clinton obtained from Russian sources. The Australian diplomat later relayed the conversation to U.S. officials, and an investigation began. The FBI would have been negligent if it had dismissed the dangers in these events.

In 2015, a Republican anti-­Trumper hired Fusion GPS to find damaging information about Trump, dropping the effort in mid-2016. The Clinton campaign and Democratic National Committee picked up the work. Fusion GPS hired Orbis Business Intelligence, operated by former British spy Christopher Steele, because it was knowledgeable in Russian affairs. It produced what is now known as the Steele Dossier.

The FBI’s Russia investigation began before the Steeler Dossier existed. The two-year Mueller investigation uncovered extensive criminal activity and resulted in 37 indictments, seven guilty pleas or convictions, of mostly Trump top aides, and 14 criminal referrals. Robert Mueller stated that he was lied to multiple times and Trump himself refused to answer questions. Mueller’s report found that the Russian effort was aimed in part to help Trump win the election, and that Trump’s allies welcomed and encouraged that help.

Compare these findings with special counsel John Durham’s 2½-year investigation. The first charge was against an FBI lawyer, who altered an email in order to justify a wiretap warrant for Carter Page. The lawyer pleaded guilty. The second charge is being contested as wildly inaccurate. The third charge is against Igor Danchenko, who worked on the Steele Dossier. He was cited for lying to the FBI about his sources for the work. Durham hasn’t charged as a crime any actions central to the research itself.

Joanne Garing

North Huntingdon