“It is time to stop chasing rabbits.”
The House Intelligence Committee on Thursday released the transcript of the panel’s November private interview with Glenn Simpson, the co-founder of the opposition research firm Fusion GPS.
The transcript was released following a unanimous vote held by the Intelligence Committee, spurred on by an Op-Ed penned for The New York Times earlier this month calling for their release.
Fusion GPS is a commercial research and strategic intelligence firm based in Washington, D.C. Fusion GPS was first hired by the conservative Washington Free Beacon back in 2015 to conduct opposition research on Trump, investigating particularly his ties with Russia.
It’s understood that a Russian state-owned bank under US sanctions helped finance the construction of the president’s 65-story Trump International Hotel and Tower in Toronto.
The bank, Vnesheconombank (VEB), is also believed by investigators on the case to have funded Trump’s golf courses in both Doonbeg, County Clare and Turnberry, Scotland.
Simpson, who testified behind closed doors, referred to Trump’s golf courses in both Ireland and Scotland as “concerning” due to financial statements obtained by Fusion showing “enormous amounts of capital flowing into these projects from unknown sources.”
“At least on paper it says it’s from The Trump Organization, but it’s hundreds of millions of dollars,” Simpson said.
“And these golf course are just, you know, they’re sinks. They don’t actually make any money.”
GOP Representative Tom Rooney also went on to say that “the story about [Trump] financing Doonbeg in Ireland through money that we can’t really trace but has sort of the fingerprints of Russian mobsters” was “fascinating.”
“If we knew that Donald Trump was working with the Russian mafia to fund Doonbeg in Ireland, then there’s no way he would be President,” Rooney said.
“So, I mean, that’s why it’s so fascinating.”
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