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-Lurid Crime Tales-
Chistopher Steele deposition shows he did little of his own research on dossier product
2019-03-18
[Daily Caller] Christopher Steele acknowledged in a July 2018 court deposition that he relied on a "random" article posted to a CNN website as part of his research for his infamous dossier.
He's a high level production manager and disseminator. He sits well beyond the laborious tasks of research and analysis.
The doing of it, perhaps. But he should know exactly where all his information came from and have a good understanding of how trustworthness of each fact he presents.
In the July 13, 2018, deposition, Steele was asked about the research he did into Aleksej Gubarev, a Russian tech executive who Steele accused of hacking into Democrats’ computer systems. (RELATED: Judge Unseals Portions Of Christopher Steele’s Deposition In BuzzFeed Lawsuit)

According to a transcript of Steele’s deposition unsealed Thursday, Gubarev’s lawyer asked Steele what information he had gathered on Gubarev or his companies, Webzilla and XBT Holdings. Gubarev sued Steele and BuzzFeed News for defamation for publishing what he claims are false allegations that he hacked Democrats.

Steele responded to the lawyer, Evan Fray-Witzer, by citing a July 28, 2009, article published at CNN’s iReports website.

Fray-Witzer pointed out to Steele that CNN’s iReports articles "are nothing more than any random person posting things on the Internet."

Steele said he was not aware of that.
It was a prepared script. Steele was told what to say. He was simply following orders.
Posted by:Besoeker

#16  An epidemic of SST.

(Sudden Suicidal Tendancies)
Posted by: CrazyFool   2019-03-18 14:34  

#15  If this can of worms were opened we would see the Dominos begin to fall.

That would be my guess, or at least exposed. To think everyone in the D.C. power structure is oblivious would be dreadfully naive. The Clinton's have covered their tracks very well. They don't do e-mail, at least the sort that we're accustomed to.
Posted by: Besoeker   2019-03-18 14:12  

#14  Seems like about everyone and their brother and sister were tied into the Clinton Foundation Money-Laundering Operation. This is why people are not talking about this as it would be likely to topple the DS. If this can of worms were opened we would see the Dominos begin to fall.
Posted by: JohnQC   2019-03-18 12:58  

#13  Ref #12: From the stench, I'd say the Clinton Foundation (with all of it's overseas connections) was a convenient laundering site for 'you know who' money.

Tying the Foundation into such an activity would have insured (as in insurance policy), privacy and a 'get out of jail free card'.

Ever notice how the course of Washington investigations rarely mentions the Clinton Foundation.
Posted by: Besoeker   2019-03-18 12:43  

#12  Hillary and her campaign bankrolled Steele's phony dossier operation which involved the DOJ, FBI and the CIA via Brennan and Ohr and Obama knew about and sanctioned it. The dossier was used to obtain FISA warrants to spy on the Trump campaign. No surprise the Communist News Channel (CNN) was also involved in making up shit. Lock em all up.
Posted by: JohnQC   2019-03-18 12:28  

#11  At this rate, dossier will be the French word for toilet paper...
Posted by: M. Murcek   2019-03-18 10:15  

#10  If you think of the dossier as a hastily prepared bilateral intelligence disinformation campaign, you'll probably be on the right track.
Posted by: Besoeker   2019-03-18 09:23  

#9  It wasn't "made up" they said whatever they thought would enable 0bama to spy on the Trump campaign for Illary's benefit.
Posted by: Bright Pebbles   2019-03-18 09:21  

#8  How Dan Rather-ish of him!
Posted by: Warthog   2019-03-18 09:17  

#7  In other words, he just makes shit up.

Hey, it fit the narrative so it is legit!
Posted by: DarthVader   2019-03-18 09:09  

#6  Ref #4: It wasn't long ago we thought Steele was the author. We have now discovered he was simply a well paid messenger.

Other messengers (or pre-circulation viewers) included the late Senator John McCain, former Pres. Obama, Foggy Bottom employee Bruce Ohr.... the list could be much longer.

The goal was disinformation, not facts. CNN was simply a convenient worm can of non-attribution. In the idiom of the intelligence community, a cut-out or dead-drop. A letter, a package without a return address.
Posted by: Besoeker   2019-03-18 09:09  

#5  In other words, he just makes shit up.
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia    2019-03-18 09:01  

#4  Wikipedia:

iReport is CNN's citizen journalism initiative that allows people from around the globe to contribute pictures and video of breaking news stories. It is similar to Wikinews in that it allows, and encourages, ordinary citizens to submit stories, photos and videos related to news of any sort. This can range from breaking news to a story that a person believes is newsworthy. Submissions are not edited, fact-checked, or screened before they post.[1] Stories that are verified are approved for use on all of CNN's platforms.

...CNN has also been criticized by insufficiently distinguishing iReport stories from its own output. There have been several cases where hoax stories placed on that service were given credence by their apparent connection to CNN, for example a story about an impending asteroid impact,[15] and several stories regarding Apple Computer that significantly influenced its stock price.[16]

That this is a thing is laudable, actually. That the stories are given the CNN imprimatur without proper journalistic vetting is appalling. That Mr. Steele, a trained former MI6 officer, who create — and sell — work product without vetting it should be enough to utterly destroy his career.
Posted by: trailing wife   2019-03-18 08:45  

#3  Political research my arse. No wonder Steele went into hiding.
Posted by: Woodrow   2019-03-18 08:22  

#2  I think "too good to check" is more than a bit at cross purposes with the function of an intelligence agent. But that's in an ideal world...
Posted by: M. Murcek   2019-03-18 07:59  

#1  Fray-Witzer pointed out to Steele that CNN’s iReports articles "are nothing more than any random person posting things on the Internet."

Seldom is this sort of thing ever random or coincidental.
Posted by: Besoeker   2019-03-18 04:51  

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