CIA’s ex-Russia chief: Unlike Steele, Trump Jr. took info Russia wanted to give

The former CIA chief of Russia operations on Friday implied President Trump’s eldest son was more willing than others to take information Russia wanted to distribute during the 2016 presidential election.

Steven L. Hall compared ex-British spy Christopher Steele’s project compiling accusations of the president’s alleged ties to the Kremlin favorably to Donald Trump Jr.’s meeting with a Russian attorney who had ties to the Kremlin.

“The distinction: Steele spied against Russia to get info Russia did not want released; Don Jr took a mtg to get info Russians wanted to give,” Hall said in a tweet Friday. 

The distinction: Steele spied against Russia to get info Russia did not want released; Don Jr took a mtg to get info Russians wanted to give https://t.co/gYLSwcoBzC

— Steven L. Hall (@StevenLHall1) October 27, 2017

Hall was responding to reports that a lawyer representing Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign and the Democratic National Committee (DNC) helped fund research for the controversial dossier.

Donald Trump Jr. has acknowledged that in June 2016 he met with a Russian lawyer who promised him damaging information on Clinton.

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The Washington Post reported Tuesday that Marc Elias, a lawyer representing the Clinton campaign and the DNC, retained Fusion GPS in April 2016 to continue investigating Trump’s background. The Washington Free Beacon, a conservative news organization, also revealed Friday that it originally funded the project that led to the dossier’s production.

The dossier created by Fusion GPS contains salacious and unverified allegations against Trump. Its author, Steele, met with special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigative team this summer.

The New York Times reported Friday that the Russian lawyer who met with Donald Trump Jr. after promising damaging information on Hillary Clinton first shared her meeting talking points with the Russian government.

The Trump Tower meeting between lawyer Natalia Veselnitskaya, Trump Jr., President Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner and former campaign manager Paul Manafort has become a central part of Mueller’s investigation into possible collusion between Trump’s campaign and Russia.