Two research operations and confusion between them
The
opposition research conducted by
Fusion GPS on Donald Trump was in two distinct operations, each with a different client. First were the Republicans, funded by
The Washington Free Beacon. Then came the Democrats, funded by the
DNC and the
Clinton campaign.
- The Republican operation, from October 2015 to May 2016, focused on Trump's domestic business and entertainment activities; was performed by Fusion GPS; and used Wayne Barrett's files and public sources. Immediately after the publication of the dossier, the media sometimes falsely assumed that the dossier started as a product of this research, so the Free Beacon released this statement: "none of the work product that the Free Beacon received appears in the Steele dossier".[38][39]
- The Democratic operation, from April 2016 to December 2016, was focused on Trump's Russian connections; was subcontracted to Steele/Orbis; and used Steele's own source network and public sources. Only this second operation produced the dossier.[40][41]
From April to early May 2016,
The Washington Free Beacon and the DNC/Clinton Campaign were independently both clients of Fusion GPS. This overlap contributed to the media's confusion.
Republican operation does not produce dossier
In October 2015, before the official start of the
2016 Republican primary campaign, the founders of Fusion GPS were seeking political work and wrote an email to "a big conservative donor they knew who disliked Trump, [and] they were hired". He arranged for them to use
The Washington Free Beacon, an American
conservative political journalism website, for their general opposition research on several Republican presidential candidates, including Trump.
[42][43] It is primarily funded by Republican donor
Paul Singer.
[43] The
Free Beacon and Singer were "part of the conservative
never-Trump movement".
[44] Although Singer was a big supporter of
Marco Rubio, Rubio denied any involvement in Fusion GPS's initial research and hiring.
[38]