Did you even read that New Yorker puff piece? Talk about someone drinking the Kool Aid! That author took everything that Simpson claimed as gospel and it's laughable! At that point Steele had already run away from his claim that everything in the dossiers was true.
He NEVER made that claim.
"Despite the fact that the fabled pee tape has never surfaced and Trump immediately denied its existence, Simpson and Fritsch write that Steele remains confident that his reports are neither a fabrication nor the āhoaxā of Trumpās denunciations. Trumpās defenders have claimed that Steele fell prey to Russian disinformation, and, therefore, it is he, not Trump, who has been a useful idiot for the Russians. But Steele tells the authors, āThese people simply have no idea what theyāre talking about.ā He emphasizes that his network of sources āis tried and testedā and has ābeen proven up in many other matters.ā He adds, āIāve spent my entire adult life working with Russian disinformation. Itās an incredibly complex subject that is at the very core of my training and my professional mission.ā
Steele points out that the most critical criteria for judging disinformation is āwhether there is a palpable motive for spreading itā; the ultimate Russian goal in 2016, he argues, āwas to prevent Hillary Clinton from becoming president, and therefore, the idea that they would intentionally spread embarrassing information about Trumpātrue or notāis not logical.ā
Steele, according to Simpson and Fritsch, is equally dismissive of those who claim that the Russians spread disinformation in order to discredit him. āThe stakes were far, far too high for them to trifle with settling scores with me or any other civilian,ā he said. āDamaging my reputation was simply not on their list of priorities. But helping Trump, and damaging Hillary was at the very top of it. No one denies that anymore.ā