Report: RNC Hired VA Firm To Dig Up Clinton Dirt
- 7 years ago
Politico is reporting that prior to the 2016 U.S. presidential election, the Republican National Committee hired a small Virginia firm to gather information that'd be potentially damaging to Hillary Clinton's candidacy.
Politico is reporting that prior to the 2016 U.S. presidential election, the Republican National Committee (RNC) hired a small Virginia firm to gather information that'd be potentially damaging to Hillary Clinton's candidacy.
The company, Hamilton Trading Group, is run by ex-CIA employees who also had dealings with a former Russian spy.
The payments made by the RNC to Hamilton Trading Group were earlier believed to be solely for assessing building security. The Federal Election Commission website shows several RNC payments to the firm under "Security Services" and "Research Services."
However, Politico notes, "RNC officials now acknowledge that most of the cash — $34,100 — went towards intelligence-style reports that sought to prove conflicts of interest between Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton’s tenure as Secretary of State and her family’s foundation. "
The media outlet further writes, "The firm produced two dossiers that tried to make the case that Clinton intervened in Bulgaria and Israel, respectively, on behalf of energy companies that had donated to the Clinton Foundation, according to people briefed on the reports."
Hamilton Trading Group, however, says the scope of their work with the RNC did not have anything to do with Russia.
Nevertheless, Politico's report comes amid mounting questions surrounding Trump associates’ possible ties with Moscow.
CNN recently reported, citing U.S. officials, "The FBI has information that indicates associates of President Donald Trump communicated with suspected Russian operatives to possibly coordinate the release of information damaging to Hillary Clinton's campaign."
In a press briefing on Thursday, White House press secretary Sean Spicer dismissed CNN's report, noting, "I think there’s probably more evidence that CNN colluded with the Clinton campaign to give her debate questions than the Trump campaign gave any kind of collusion."
Politico is reporting that prior to the 2016 U.S. presidential election, the Republican National Committee (RNC) hired a small Virginia firm to gather information that'd be potentially damaging to Hillary Clinton's candidacy.
The company, Hamilton Trading Group, is run by ex-CIA employees who also had dealings with a former Russian spy.
The payments made by the RNC to Hamilton Trading Group were earlier believed to be solely for assessing building security. The Federal Election Commission website shows several RNC payments to the firm under "Security Services" and "Research Services."
However, Politico notes, "RNC officials now acknowledge that most of the cash — $34,100 — went towards intelligence-style reports that sought to prove conflicts of interest between Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton’s tenure as Secretary of State and her family’s foundation. "
The media outlet further writes, "The firm produced two dossiers that tried to make the case that Clinton intervened in Bulgaria and Israel, respectively, on behalf of energy companies that had donated to the Clinton Foundation, according to people briefed on the reports."
Hamilton Trading Group, however, says the scope of their work with the RNC did not have anything to do with Russia.
Nevertheless, Politico's report comes amid mounting questions surrounding Trump associates’ possible ties with Moscow.
CNN recently reported, citing U.S. officials, "The FBI has information that indicates associates of President Donald Trump communicated with suspected Russian operatives to possibly coordinate the release of information damaging to Hillary Clinton's campaign."
In a press briefing on Thursday, White House press secretary Sean Spicer dismissed CNN's report, noting, "I think there’s probably more evidence that CNN colluded with the Clinton campaign to give her debate questions than the Trump campaign gave any kind of collusion."