Conservative Free Beacon originally funded firm that created Trump-Russia dossier
Representatives for the Washington Free Beacon, a conservative online news site, informed congressional investigators Friday the outlet had originally funded the research firm that created the salacious dossier containing allegations of ties between Donald Trump’s campaign and Russian operatives, the publication said in a statement.
The firm, Fusion GPS — which has been entwined in federal and congressional probes into Russian election interference in 2016 — was retained by the Free Beacon during the 2016 elections “to provide research on multiple candidates in the Republican presidential primary,” Free Beacon editor and chief Matthew Continetti and chairman Michael Goldfarb said in the statement.
Goldfarb and Continetti, however, said they have no knowledge or financial involvement in the creation of the now-infamous Trump-Russia dossier, prepared by former British intelligence officer Christopher Steele and Fusion GPS.
The Free Beacon said it stood by its deployment of Fusion GPS during the 2016 campaign and its reporting on the matter.
“We stand by our reporting, and we do not apologize for our methods. We consider it our duty to report verifiable information, not falsehoods or slander, and we believe that commitment has been well demonstrated by the quality of the journalism that we produce,” Goldfarb and Continetti said.
Democratic officials have come under scrutiny over the past week over after reports on Monday that the Democratic National Committee and the Clinton campaign had also funded opposition research by Fusion GPS.
Trump on Wednesday called the unverified dossier a “disgrace,” dismissing it as “made up,” and blasted Democratic officials for their involvement with the research firm.
“I understand they paid a tremendous amount of money,” Trump told reporters outside the White House. “And Hillary Clinton always denied it. The Democrats always denied it. And now, only because it’s gonna come out in a court case, they said yes, they did it. They admitted it, and they’re embarrassed by it. But I think it’s a disgrace. It’s a very sad commentary on politics in this country.”
The Free Beacon said Friday it told lawmakers they’d “offer to answer what questions we can in their ongoing probe of Fusion GPS and the Steele dossier.”