Did FBI Ignore Fusion's Missing Credibility?

BY LT. COLONEL JAMES G. ZUMWALT, USMC (RET)   /  FAMILY SECURITY MATTERS

A popular weekly television show, running from 1957-1963, was the Western “Have Gun, Will Travel.” Its star was a hired gun named “Paladin.” But he was not your typical hired gun. Paladin was driven by a moral compass that had him fighting for truth and justice.

Fusion GPS, the company brought into the spotlight as a result of allegations collusion occurred between presidential candidate Donald Trump and Russia, is – in reality – also a hired gun. However, it is driven by a much different compass, one unaffected either by truth or justice. Its compass seems to have but one direction – oriented toward liberally minded clients who “show it the money.”

One critic of the FBI’s performance leading up to the appointment of Special Prosecutor Robert Mueller doubts the agency was “out to get Trump” although its “conduct was certainly questionable.” But such a conclusion falls short if one considers what the FBI knew or, based on its vast investigative capabilities to so discover, should have known about Fusion but opted not to consider.

After being hired by a Democratic campaign lawyer, Fusion became the conduit for a fake anti-Trump dossier. Fusion subcontracted with retired British MI-6 officer Christopher Steele to conduct the investigation – one ultimately triggering surveillance of Trump’s presidential campaign due to an unwarranted FISA warrant based on Fusion’s report. But this was not the first time the company touted having done expert research that was anything but.

In 2015, with no expertise in forensics analysis, Fusion was hired by Planned Parenthood to undertake a forensic-analysis case demanding just such an expertise. The requirement was to conduct analysis of an undercover video, introduced into evidence by the Center for Medical Progress (CMP) against Planned Parenthood to show it “was involved in the illegal trafficking of aborted baby remains and other crimes.” Planned Parenthood got from Fusion what it wanted and paid for: an “analysis” finding the CMP videos had been deceptively edited and, consequently, were unreliable as evidence in court. However, the finding was inaccurate. While some minor editing had been done to reduce video length by cutting out the undercover recorder’s inconsequential elevator rides and bathroom breaks, nothing of substance had been removed or otherwise edited.

It is a mystery why Planned Parenthood engaged Fusion if it truly sought a forensics analyst’s expert opinion. The company’s website must be the shortest on the internet, consisting of but two sentences – neither one of which alleges it possessed such expertise. In fact, in examining Fusion’s website, a due diligence review should have generated more questions than answers – whether that due diligence was being undertaken by Planned Parenthood or by the FBI.

Founded in 2011 by three former Wall Street Journal journalists, Fusion’s website, in its entirety, appears as follows:

“Fusion GPS is based in Washington, D.C., and provides premium research, strategic intelligence and due diligence services to corporations, law firms and investors worldwide. We offer a cross-disciplinary approach with expertise in media, politics, national security and global markets. Email: [email protected].”

It should be clear both from the work Fusion did for Planned Parenthood and for Hillary in producing an anti-Trump dossier, its role has been that of a hired gun. Apparently, a client need only tell Fusion what findings it desires and the agency will then creates a report substantiating them. What appears not to stand in Fusion’s way – or, for that matter, in the way of its paying clients – is truth. With the wave of a magic wand, Fusion became an expert in the field a client desired – the magic wand being money. It seems a perfect match – a client seeks to buy damaging untruths and Fusion seeks to create them, package them up and sell them.

It would be interesting to learn from the soon-to-be-retiring Planned Parenthood president, Cecile Richards, what led her to engage Fusion and with whom she shared its capabilities. Unsurprisingly, Richards is very close to two key players in the Trump/Russia collusion investigation - Hillary and, as evidenced by her 39 visits to the White House, also with then-President Barack Obama. If Hillary was unaware on her own of Fusion’s potential as a hired gun – one perhaps committed more to client satisfaction than to truth – it would not be far-fetched to believe Richards shared this information with Clinton. It would also explain, knowing what she was buying from Fusion, why Hillary was so eager for its report to be released before Election Day.

There are only two options as to why the FBI gave credibility to the Fusion report. One is total incompetence in conducting a due diligence review. The other is that it was so committed to seeing Hillary win the election, it too would not allow truth to stand in the way. If the latter, high level FBI personnel involved clearly had no expectation Hillary would lose and their own acts of collusion would ever be exposed to the light of day.

The former option is highly unlikely; the latter probably more likely. If so, at least as far as all the Fusion collusionists are concerned, maybe karma does exist.

A version of this piece also appeared on http://www.wnd.com/

http://familysecuritymatters.org/publications/detail/did-fbi-ignore-fusions-missing-credibility

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Lt. Colonel James G. Zumwalt, USMC (Ret.), is a retired Marine infantry officer who served in the Vietnam war, the U.S. invasion of Panama and the first Gulf war. He is the author of “Bare Feet, Iron Will–Stories from the Other Side of Vietnam’s Battlefields,” “Living the Juche Lie: North Korea’s Kim Dynasty” and “Doomsday: Iran–The Clock is Ticking.” He frequently writes on foreign policy and defense issues.