Intelligence Committee Staffers Secret Trip To London Actually Adds Credence To Russian Dossier

Rachel Maddow highlighted the fascinating story of two House Intelligence Committee staffers taking a trip to London and trying to meet with either Christopher Steele's lawyers or Steele directly. Steele was the author of the infamous "Russian dossier" on Trump and a number of allegations in that dossier have since been corroborated. What made the story fascinating is that none of the members of the Intelligence Committee except, it appears, for Devin Nunes were aware of the trip. Nunes was the Intelligence Committee chairman until he had to recuse himself after promoting White House propaganda on the Russian hacking issue one too many times, especially by potentially leaking classified information in order to smear members of the Obama administration in order to back up Trump's lies that Obama had wiretapped Trump.

The trip by the two staffers was authorized by a longtime aide to Nunes without the knowledge of other committee members. Since it required federal dollars to be spent, it is highly doubtful the aide authorized the trip without a sign off from Nunes himself. As of now, it is unclear what the staffers hoped to accomplish by secretly meeting with Steele or his lawyer.

What we do know, however, is that everything that Nunes does with regard to the Russia investigation is almost certainly done at the behest of the White House. So the fact that he authorized the London trip can only mean that Trump or his lawyers believe there is really something to worry about in Steele's Russian dossier. We can be certain the staffers weren't there to urge Mr. Steele to come to the US and testify truthfully. They were more probably there to get information on his sources or to somehow intimidate Steele or taint his testimony when it is given. One thing is for sure, and that is their presence is yet another confirmation that elements of the dossier are probably true.