On Sunday, Trump implored his Twitter minions to “Do something!” It was widely speculated that he was talking about the pending announcement of who would be named in the first indictments coming out of Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election.
“Never seen such Republican ANGER & UNITY as I have concerning the lack of investigation on Clinton made Fake Dossier (now $12,000,000?),….” Trump tweeted on Sunday.
So the Russian dossier cost $12 million?
Well, no.
Fusion GPS, a Washington opposition research firm, was hired by lawyer Mark Elias, who represented the Clinton campaign and the Democratic National Committee to oversee the research, the Washington Post first reported. Fusion GPS then hired former British intelligence officer Christopher Steele, who authored the dossier.
Elias and Perkins Coie, his law firm, hired Fusion GPS in April 2016. Fusion GPS had already been conducting research on Trump during the Republican primaries for the conservative Washington Free Beacon, the Washington Examiner reported.
The Clinton campaign and the DNC continued to fund the research, up until a few days before the election, at which point, it probably was time to let it go.
So what was the final price tag?
$168,000.
The money was paid to former British intelligence officer Christopher Steele’s company, Orbis Business Intelligence.
The dossier was a secret, up until January, when Buzzfeed news put it on blast for the world to see.
It was a controversial move, since the dossier had yet to be verified, and up to today, only certain details have been confirmed, such as certain communications with foreign nationals.
Still no confirmation on the pee-pee tapes.
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