NEW YORK — Jonathan M. Winer, an official in John Kerry’s State Department, vouched for the credibility of anti-Trump dossier author Christopher Steele to two reporters before they each broke separate stories about the information contained in Steele’s largely discredited dossier, the two reporters revealed in their new book.
Winer gave his nod of approval for Steele to the reporters while he served at the State Department. The detail is particularly noteworthy since Winer’s purported green light was followed by one of the reporters, Michael Isikoff, penning a story on Yahoo News that was cited in a FISA court application signed by James Comey to obtain a warrant to monitor the communications of Carter Page.
Isikoff’s Yahoo News article focused on alleged contacts between Page and Russian officials during a trip to Moscow.
Winer later admitted that while he was at the State Department, he regularly interfaced and exchanged information with Steele, including passing anti-Trump claims to Steele that originated with Cody Shearer, who is a controversial figure long tied to various Clinton scandals. Winer also conceded that Shearer’s claims were provided to him by Clinton confident Sidney Blumenthal.
http:// www. breitbart.com/big-journalism/2018/03/23/reporters-admit-consulting-kerry-state-dept-official-publishing-trump-dossier-articles/