What you need to know about Christopher Steele, the FBI and the Trump 'dossier' Former British intelligence officer Christopher Steele and the dossier he wrote made their way back...
| |  | | Democracy Dies in Darkness | | | | | | | | | | The truth behind the rhetoric | | | | | | What you need to know about Christopher Steele, the FBI and the Trump 'dossier' | | Former British intelligence officer Christopher Steele and the dossier he wrote made their way back into the spotlight this week. First, Sen. Lindsey O. Graham and Sen. Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa) referred Steele for a criminal investigation by the Justice Department. Then Graham doubled-down, saying, "Mr. Steele was on the payroll of Fusion GPS, who was being paid by the Democratic Party to do opposition research on Donald Trump. That while he was working with the FBI, he was shopping this dossier all over the world. That's not what an informant should do."
As we have explained before, Fusion GPS is a research firm that was started by a group of former Wall Street Journal reporters. In early June 2016, Fusion hired Steele to examine Trump's ties in Russia. Steele, by his own account, was sufficiently alarmed by what he had been told by his Russian sources that in early July he sought out a contact in the FBI. While the cause of Graham's referral still remains a mystery, we know Steele was not being paid as an informant when he was in communication with the FBI, but he was certainly informing officials about his reports. Whether he was "shopping" the material is a matter of opinion, but clearly at the direction of Fusion, Steele tried to interest reporters in his findings on Russia and Trump. With so many twists and turns in this story, as a reader service, we compiled what we know about Steele, Fusion GPS and the FBI. |  | |
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| | | Chris Christie's dubious claim he saved $120 billion in the New Jersey pension system
It's a rite of passage for politicians leaving office to talk about bright spots and accomplishments, even if they have to fudge a few details. Outgoing Gov. Chris Christie (R-N.J.) took full advantage of this during his final state of the state address on Jan. 9. Christie told New Jersey lawmakers his reforms to the pension system "will save $120 billion over 30 years" and his administration's contributions "represent[ed] 2½ times more than the last five governors before me combined." Christie concluded, "If such contributions had been made all along, our problems would almost be nonexistent." Christie contributed 28 percent of the minimum payments the state was required to send the pension funds, compared with a 21 percent average for the previous five governors combined. So, while, he did technically contribute more, according to Moody's Investors Service, 28 percent is not considered a healthy funding level. He also claimed that New Jersey taxpayers saved $120 billion over 30 years because of a 2011 law he signed. But Christie leaves out that by scrapping another part of that law, which required him to make bigger pension payments, he also saddled New Jersey taxpayers with an indeterminate but substantial cost over 30 years. Apple-polishing is to be expected for a departing governor, but Christie earns Three Pinocchios for statistics that belie a rotten core. |  | | Introducing Salvador Rizzo
The Fact Checker team is growing! Salvador Rizzo debuted as the newest member of our team this week. He comes to us from the Garden State, where he had covered New Jersey politics for seven years. Read more about Sal here and follow him. | | | Scroll down for this week's Pinocchio roundup. –Meg Kelly | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
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