House intel panel subpoenas for records on unverified Trump dossier

Christopher Steele Spy :-)

The House Intelligence Committee has issued subpoenas requesting records related to the FBI's relationship with a former British spy who compiled a dossier of unverified allegations about President Donald Trump's connections with Russia.

The committee subpoenaed the FBI and the Justice Department on Aug. 24, giving them until Sept. 1 to turn over information about the nature of the bureau's relationship with Christopher Steele. The panel also wants to know how much Steele was paid and to what extent the dossier was relied upon to obtain FISA warrants and launch the FBI's investigation into Russian activities during the 2016 election campaign.

The subpoenas were first reported by the Washington Examiner.
The FBI and Justice Department did not respond to the initial request for records and the committee has now given them until Sept. 14 to comply. If the records are not provided, FBI Director Christopher Wray and Attorney General Jeff Sessions will be directed to appear before the committee to answer questions.
Steele compiled the 35-page dossier while working for U.S.-based Fusion GPS, an investigative firm headed by former Wall Street Journal reporter Glenn Simpson. The document was initially created as opposition research on behalf of Trump's political rivals and contained a number of salacious allegations involving Russian prostitutes. None of the allegations in the dossier have been corroborated.
However, the dossier was part of the evidence the FBI used to obtain a FISA warrant to monitor communications of Carter Page, a peripheral adviser in the Trump campaign. Former FBI Director James Comey considered the dossier so important that he insisted it be included in January's final Intelligence Community Report on Russian meddling in the election and reportedly offered Steele $50,000 to corroborate the dossier---something the bureau denies paying.