Newly declassified FBI records expose the complex web of relationships between Christopher Steele, Hillary Clinton's campaign, and the FBI's investigation into alleged Trump-Russia collusion.

According to Just The News, hundreds of pages of FBI documents released this week show how the bureau mishandled its relationship with former British spy Christopher Steele while applying different standards in defensive briefings given to Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton during the 2016 campaign.

The documents reveal that Steele received $127,500 in payments from the FBI during his time as a confidential source, significantly more than the previously reported $95,000. The bureau even offered Steele an additional $1 million incentive in October 2016 to prove the allegations in his dossier, which he was unable to do.

FBI's double standards in handling political figures

The newly unsealed records demonstrate stark differences in how the FBI approached Trump versus Clinton regarding foreign influence concerns. When Turkish officials attempted to influence Clinton through lobbying and campaign donations, the bureau promptly provided her team with a defensive briefing.

In contrast, the FBI used an August 2016 intelligence briefing with Trump as a pretext to gather evidence on him and his adviser Michael Flynn. Special Agent Joseph Pientka, who conducted the briefing, prepared investigative reports about Trump's and Flynn's statements during what was supposed to be a standard security briefing.

The documents also show that FBI leadership stonewalled efforts by field agents to investigate foreign influence attempts targeting Clinton's prospective 2016 campaign, choosing instead to give her team a defensive briefing rather than pursue a FISA warrant.

Steele dossier's path through government channels

Former NSA Director Mike Rogers expressed significant doubts about including Steele's unverified claims in the intelligence community's 2017 assessment of Russian election interference. Rogers successfully argued for moving the dossier's allegations to an appendix rather than featuring them prominently in the report.

The records indicate that State Department official Victoria Nuland was aware of Steele's October 2016 meeting with the FBI in Rome. They also detail how Steele worked with Clinton allies at the State Department to channel unsubstantiated Russia allegations to FBI investigators during the election year.

FBI analysts later determined they could not verify any of the dossier's substantive claims about Trump-Russia collusion, despite extensive efforts to do so. Many of the dossier's most sensational allegations were later revealed to be Russian disinformation.

Key figures emerge in declassified documents

Several previously redacted names of FBI officials involved in handling the Steele dossier have now been revealed, including agents Joe Pientka, Brian Auten, Curtis Heide, and Kevin Clinesmith. These officials played crucial roles in circulating Steele's claims within the bureau and using them to support surveillance applications.

The documents show that FBI analyst Brian Auten, who later faced disciplinary action, helped spread the dossier's claims despite being unable to verify them. Kevin Clinesmith eventually admitted to falsifying a CIA email about Carter Page's status as an intelligence source.

Internal FBI communications reveal that by September 2016, the Crossfire Hurricane team at FBI headquarters had received Steele's initial reports - 75 days after they were first provided to the bureau in London.

Conclusion

The newly declassified FBI documents have exposed significant irregularities in how the bureau handled both the Steele dossier and its investigations of presidential candidates in 2016. While Clinton received prompt defensive briefings about foreign influence attempts, Trump's briefing was used to gather intelligence against him and his team. The records show that despite paying Steele over $127,000 and offering him an additional $1 million to prove his claims, the FBI was unable to verify any of the dossier's substantive allegations about Trump-Russia collusion. The documents also reveal the identities of key FBI officials who helped circulate these unverified claims, several of whom later faced professional consequences for their actions.