It is reported today that Fusion-GPS co-founder, Glenn Simpson, will not agree to testify to congress and will invoke his fifth amendment privilege to avoid answering questions.

Chris Steele – Bruce Ohr – Glenn Simpson

This is interesting for several reasons.  Recent evidence and testimony has conflicted with Simpson’s prior testimony.  Specifically testimony from DOJ official Bruce Ohr who testified to meeting with Glenn Simpson and Christopher Steele in August 2016 prior to the FBI seeking a FISA application against Carter Page.
In prior testimony Simpson said he only met with Mr. Ohr sometime after Thanksgiving of 2016.  Not coincidentally it is the FBI interview notes of Bruce Ohr that congress has requested to be declassified, and that DAG Rod Rosenstein wants to keep hidden.
Simpson hired Bruce Ohr’s wife Nellie Ohr, in late 2015 to work on the Trump opposition research project.  That oppo research effort evolved into the Christopher Steele authored dossier after the DNC and Hillary Clinton hired Fusion-GPS in April of 2016.
One of the most likely reasons for Simpson to take the fifth amendment is his network of activity extends beyond the DOJ and FBI, and directly connects to the Obama White House during the election time-frame the dossier was being assembled.  It does not seem coincidental the Obama administration recently began seeding the media with a story about why the White House was active in the ‘Trump Russia Collusion’ narrative.

The New York Magazine article dated October 10th (yesterday) is a clear signal that someone in/around the previous Obama administration team is seeking to create a plausible ‘by the book‘ excuse, for why the White House was engaged with the same elements constructing the Trump dossier.  The timing is simply too transparent.
The NYMAG article outlines a secret meeting and secret strategy from the Obama White House to force candidate Donald Trump to accept a defeat in the 2016 election:

In October 2016, senior staff in the Obama White House discussed what they should do if Hillary Clinton won the November election and Donald Trump refused to accept the result as legitimate.
[…] The Obama White House plan, according to interviews with Rhodes and Jen Psaki, Obama’s communications director, called for congressional Republicans, former presidents, and former Cabinet-level officials including Colin Powell and Condoleezza Rice, to try and forestall a political crisis by validating the election result.
In the event that Trump tried to dispute a Clinton victory, they would affirm the result as well as the conclusions reached by the U.S. intelligence community that Russian interference in the election sought to favor Trump, and not Clinton. (read more)

Remember, despite the claims by DNI James Clapper and CIA Director John Brennan, in the final report NSA Director Admiral Mike Rogers disagreed with the premise the Russian election involvement was to help Trump.  Specifically the Russian efforts went both ways including the organization of anti-Trump rallies at Trump Tower.
That NYMAG report, published yesterday, appears to be an attempt to make an excuse for why the White House was engaged with the participants in the Russia Collusion narrative.
However, in hindsight, the actions and motives by all of the participants in October 2016, become increasingly clear.  As quoted by Hillary Clinton during the second debate, October 9th, 2016:

HILLARY CLINTON: “But, you know, let’s talk about what’s really going on here, Martha, because our intelligence community just came out and said in the last few days that the Kremlin, meaning Putin and the Russian government, are directing the attacks, the hacking on American accounts to influence our election.
And WikiLeaks is a part of that, as are other sites where the Russians hack information, we don’t even know if it’s accurate information, and then they put it out. We have never in the history of our country been in a situation where an adversary, a foreign power, is working so hard to influence the outcome of the election. And believe me, they’re not doing it to get me elected. They’re doing it to try and influence the election for Donald Trump.“

Again, in hindsight, the above highlighted part of Clinton’s statement during the second debate inherently implies her knowledge of the closed-door white house meeting.  Clinton didn’t stop at saying Russia was trying to interfere in the election, she specifically framed the issue as Russia trying to help Trump win the election.


Back to Glenn Simpson…
It is entirely likely Glenn Simpson knows exactly who, from the White House, was involved in the efforts to support his anti-Trump work.   Simpson’s wife, Mary Jacoby, visited the White House on April 19, 2016, the day after NSA Director Mike Rogers shut down contractor access to the NSA and FBI database on April 18, 2016.
The wife of Glenn Simpson (Fusion GPS), Mary B. Jacoby, with years of Russia-angled reporting –including Donald Trumpvisits the White House in April 2016, at the same time as the DNC and Clinton hire Fusion GPS to conduct the opposition research on Donald Trump, surrounding Russia.  [WH Log Link]

(The Hill) A lawyer for Glenn Simpson, co-founder of Fusion GPS, told the head of the House Judiciary Committee on Thursday that his client will “invoke his constitutional rights not to testify,” defying a GOP-issued subpoena seeking to compel him to give a closed-door deposition.

The lawyer, Joshua Levy, told Judiciary Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.) in an electronic letter that Simpson will not participate in this committee’s inquiry because it “is not designed to discover the truth.”

“Consistent with the September 27, 2018 letter we sent to you, Mr. Simpson, whose testimony is a matter of public record, will not be participating in a confidential deposition before this Committee,” lawyers for Simpson write, according to a copy of the letter obtained by The Hill.

“He will instead invoke his constitutional rights not to testify under the First and Fifth Amendments of the Constitution.” (read more)

.


 
 
 

Share