File author Steele still believes Michael Cohen colluded with Russia in Prague despite DOJ report
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Former British intelligence agent Christopher Steele, who is the author of the unverified Russian-Donald Trump collusion charge, still believes former Trump attorney Michael Cohen held secret meetings in Prague despite the fact that the Ministry of Justice did not substantiate this claim.
The file alleged that Cohen had “secret meetings with Kremlin officials in August 2016” in Prague. However, Cohen testified before the House Oversight Committee in 2019 that he had never been to Prague and that the Justice Department was unable to confirm Steele’s claim after a lengthy investigation. .
ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos spoke to Steele for a special, “Out of the Shadows: The Man Behind the Steele Dossier,” and asked him directly about Cohen.
“One big claim on the record, the FBI, according to the Inspector General’s report… is not true, it’s the claim that Michael Cohen had a meeting with Russians in Prague,” Stephanopoulos said. “Do you accept this discovery that this did not happen?” ”
COHEN, IN BOOK THAT SLAMS TRUMP CHARACTER, SAYS STEELE FILE, ‘COLLUSION’ NARRATIVES ARE NOT TRUE
Steele, who insisted the record is largely accurate throughout the interview, does not accept Justice Department Inspector General Michael E. Horowitz’s findings that Steele’s reports could not be corroborated.
“No, I don’t,” Steele said.
Cohen has since turned on Trump, sharing information about the former president with prosecutors. Cohen called Trump a “cheater, liar, fraudster, bully, racist, predator, con man” and “amoral” in a book.
But he has always maintained that the story of his trip to Prague as part of a Russian conspiracy linked to collusion was false. Cohen served a prison sentence after pleading guilty to campaign finance violations and bank fraud, but was returned to house arrest last year.
Michael Cohen, former lawyer for President Donald Trump, has long denied claims he met Russians in Prague. (AP Photo / Kevin Hagen, on file)
SOURCE OF STEEL FILE HAS BEEN INVESTIGATED BY FBI FOR RUSSIAN CONTACTS, SAYS BARR
“Michael Cohen has completely turned against Donald Trump. He accused him of all kinds of things,” said Stephanopoulos. “It defies logic that if he did that, he wouldn’t say it now.”
Steele disagreed.
“It’s self-incriminating to a very large extent,” Steele said.
Stephanopoulos asked what Cohen would incriminate himself in, to which the author of the file replied: “Treason, presumably”.
Stephanopoulos replied, “Ever since he went to jail, since he turned on President Trump, he’s been telling all the stories. Why wouldn’t he admit it?”
“Because I think it’s so incriminating and demeaning and I think the other reason is that he might be afraid of the consequences,” Steele said.
Stephanopoulos asked Steele if not believing the FBI, in this case, is damaging his credibility.
“I am ready to accept that everything on the record is not 100% correct, I have yet to be convinced that this is one of them,” Steele said.
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Questions surrounding Cohen’s alleged trip to Prague come from the file, which was published in January 2017 by BuzzFeed News, detailing salacious and unfounded allegations against Trump. Horowitz tore up the FBI in his report for relying heavily on the case to secure surveillance warrants against Trump campaign official Carter Page.
In August 2017, Cohen denied the allegations made on the file, calling them “totally false.” Cohen’s attorney said Cohen “had never been to Prague, Czech Republic, as evidenced by his passport” and “did not attend meetings with Kremlin officials in Prague in August 2016”.
The unverified record of former British spy Christopher Steele was a major part of the warrant requests the FBI filed to spy on Trump associate Carter Page.
When the dossier was first published, Cohen tweeted on January 10, 2017: “I have never been to Prague in my life. #Fakenews.”
Steele compiled information for the controversial case on behalf of Fusion GPS, which was hired to conduct Democratic National Committee-funded opposition research and Hillary Clinton’s campaign through law firm Perkins Coie .
Fox News’ Brooke Singman and Tyler Olson contributed to this report.
