Dossier Architects Claimed They Wanted To Protect Identity Of Sources. One Was Unmasked Anyway
The architects of the Steele dossier have claimed that protecting the identity of one of the document’s main sources was a major concern.
Despite that, a Belarus-born businessman was identified in the press as the source for some of the dossier’s most salacious allegations about President Donald Trump and the campaign.
A review of press reports and government documents shows Christopher Steele and Glenn Simpson identified the alleged source, Sergei Millian, to journalists and government officials.
Former British spy Christopher Steele and Fusion GPS founder Glenn Simpson claimed to have concerns about the safety and security of one of the sources for the dossier, but outed him anyway by talking to journalists.
Steele told a State Department official in October 2016 that “source protection” was a focus in his investigation of President Donald Trump, according to notes from the meeting released earlier this month.
That purported concern was also shared by Simpson, who hired Steele on behalf of the Democratic National Committee and the Clinton campaign. He told Justice Department official Bruce Ohr on Jan. 20, 2017, that he was worried about the safety of a dossier source he believed was about to be identified in the media.
Sergei Millian was outed four days later.
On Jan. 24, 2017, ABC News and The Wall Street Journal identified Millian, an American citizen born in Belarus, as an unwitting source for Steele. Described interchangeably as Source D, Source E and an “ethnic Russian associate of Trump,” Millian was the source who claimed that the Kremlin was blackmailing Trump with a salacious sex tape and that the Trump campaign had conspired with Russia to influence the election.
Millian’s outing as a dossier source is perhaps an unintended consequence of Steele and Simpson’s contacts with journalists during their investigation of Trump.
As part of its contract with the DNC and Clinton campaign, Fusion GPS was tasked with providing journalists with details of Steele’s investigation. Steele and Simpson briefed numerous journalists and government officials about their investigation before and after the 2016 election, providing some with copies of the dossier. Simpson also acknowledged in Senate testimony in August 2017 that he spoke to reporters about Millian.
Michael Isikoff and David Corn, two journalists who met with Steele before the election, have reported that Simpson tipped off ABC News reporter Brian Ross to Millian’s significance to the Trump investigation in July 2016. Ross, who interviewed Millian on camera on July 29, 2016, would later break the story that Millian was a dossier source.
https://dailycaller.com/2019/05/27/sergei-millian-dossier-fusion-gps/