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Government Corruption
Looks Like John Durham Has Made a Decision on Trump Dossier Author Christopher Steele
2022-04-19
[REDSTATE] There’s been a lot of big news over the last several months regarding John Durham’s investigation into the origins of the Trump-Russia collusion hoax. The trial of Michael Sussman, who recently lost a bid to dismiss the case, is coming up shortly, and the most recent filing points to a wide range of targets for Durham.

Yet, there’s also something else buried in those revelations: It looks like Remington Christopher Steele, the author of the infamous Trump Dossier, is going to get off scot-free.

In the filing, Durham has Steele listed as a witness. There is no indication Steele has taken the 5th Amendment nor that he has gotten an immunity deal. That would likely mean he’s a cooperating witness. Given Steele’s exposure, he wouldn’t agree to such an arrangement if the special counsel hadn’t told him that he will not be prosecuted.
What would being a stool pigeon do to his ability to sell such services in the future?
And as McAdoo Gordon points out in her subsequent commentary, the government can’t just falsely promise not to prosecute someone, garner testimony, and then change its mind. That’s how the Bill Cosby conviction got thrown out.

There is another possible explanation, but it doesn’t appear to fully add up. That is that Durham is looking to use old testimony from a lawsuit involving Steele in his current case. Yet, a prosecutor can’t just take testimony from another case and use it because they feel like it. Durham would need to show that Steele is unavailable now to testify on the specific matter, and there’s been no filing to that effect. In short, it’s possible (perhaps even probable) that Steele himself isn’t going to be called in the Sussmann case. But it’s unlikely even past testimony is used without Steele being assured he’s in the clear.
Related:
Christopher Steele: 2022-04-11 The Question Anne Applebaum Refused to Answer
Christopher Steele: 2022-04-06 Democratic lawyer Sussmann doesn't want Steele dossier brought up during Durham trial
Christopher Steele: 2022-03-30 CIA veteran who signed Hunter Biden laptop letter says he sarcastically claimed credit for 2020 election
Posted by:Fred

#8  Novels are supposed to be untrue, ruprecht. What Mr. Steele was claiming to sell was verified true facts about Mr. Trump and members of his team that would be useful to his opponents: Hillary Clinton and the Deep State. Mr. Steele engaged in blatant fraud; and while possibly that fraud is not Mr. Durham’s concern as a special prosecutor, that fraud was the basis of everything that followed.

And the Secret Service does investigate the writers of novels, plays, etc. about Democratic presidents like Barack Obama being monsters or being assassinated, while ignoring those written about Republican presidents. I agree with the principle of freedom of speech, but it should be applied equally to both parties.
Posted by: trailing wife   2022-04-19 22:37  

#7  I don't care about his motives. Stephen King hates Trump, that wouldn't make a novel about Trump being a monster illegal. It's what was done with the dossier that was actually illegal.
Posted by: ruprecht   2022-04-19 21:54  

#6  I have doubts about Steele's "ideological" motivations. He was a businessman and espionage agent. His motivation was likely
related to future contracts and money making.
Posted by: Besoeker   2022-04-19 18:35  

#5   all Steele did was some creative writing

He was paid a lot of money to do so, and was motivated in his inventions by his hatred of President Trump. From The Telegraph:

Secret memo on FBI states British spy was desperate to stop Donald Trump getting elected
2 February 2018
Donald Trump has approved the release of the memo
A former British spy behind a dossier of lurid claims against Donald Trump admitted he was “desperate” to stop him becoming US president, it was alleged on Friday.

Christopher Steele told a US justice official before the 2016 election that he was “passionate” about stopping Mr Trump winning, according to a newly released memo.

Republicans held up the comment as proof the former MI6 agent had “ideological motivations” against Mr Trump that throw into question the reliability of his evidence.
Posted by: trailing wife   2022-04-19 18:04  

#4  I think the MI6 alibi is accurate, and as Sundance at CTH has written, the Puppet Show, Obama 3.0, is happy to do Hillary and the Clinton Network underlings who don't have the Fail-Safe notebook protection. Second tier players who worked both sides of the demokrat sewage flow are probably safe.
Lesser Clinton apparatchiks and low-cash donors should be looking at travel, just not to Arkansas...
Posted by: NoMoreBS   2022-04-19 12:54  

#3  I could be wrong but it seems that all Steele did was some creative writing. It was those that passed it along, claiming it was real, that really broke the law.
Posted by: ruprecht   2022-04-19 10:28  

#2  All Kabuki theater. If anyone thinks something substantive will come of this they are fooling themselves.
Posted by: Warthog   2022-04-19 10:27  

#1  Bringing Steele into the fray would likely highlight the potential involvement of MI6 and other intelligence entities. Appears Mr. Durham got the memo.
Posted by: Besoeker   2022-04-19 06:43  

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