Christopher Steele, Russia-Collusion Hoaxer, Stands By Work

If Donald Trump . . . scratch that . . . if any Republican operative had produced a fictitious oppo file on the life of Joe Biden that: (a) crammed in every rumor and conspiracy theory he could find, leaving just enough truth to make it plausible; (b) went to gullible or willing political and journalistic allies in an effort to mislead the public and undermine trust in the presidential election; (c) was used to plunge the nation into years of hysterical paranoia regarding Russian interference; and (d) was then sent to law-enforcement agencies as a way to help launch a cascade of useless investigations, from special-counsel probes to congressional inquiries, all of which ended up producing exactly zero indictments related to “collusion” . . . that person would be treated like Lin Wood or Alex Jones — or worse.

But some ratf***ers are more successful than others. And one of the architects of the swindle, retired British spy Christopher Steele, is now “stepping out of the shadows.” He’s the subject of a Hulu documentary and an interview with former Clinton operative George Stephanopoulos (now with ABC News), in which he discusses the infamous “Steele dossier.” But this designation gives what is ultimately a fabricated oppo-research file, paid for by the Clinton campaign and the DNC, an unearned le Carré flourish.

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David Harsanyi

David Harsanyi is a senior writer at the Washington Examiner.

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If Donald Trump . . . scratch that . . . if any Republican operative had produced a fictitious oppo file on the life of Joe Biden that: (a) crammed in every rumor and conspiracy theory he could find, leaving just enough truth to make it plausible; (b) went to gullible or willing political and journalistic allies in an effort to mislead the public and undermine trust in the presidential election; (c) was used to plunge the nation into years of hysterical paranoia regarding Russian interference; and (d) was then sent to law-enforcement agencies as a way to help launch a cascade of useless investigations, from special-counsel probes to congressional inquiries, all of which ended up producing exactly zero indictments related to “collusion” . . . that person would be treated like Lin Wood or Alex Jones — or worse.

But some ratf***ers are more successful than others. And one of the architects of the swindle, retired British spy Christopher Steele, is now “stepping out of the shadows.” He’s the subject of a Hulu documentary and an interview with former Clinton operative George Stephanopoulos (now with ABC News), in which he discusses the infamous “Steele dossier.” But this designation gives what is ultimately a fabricated oppo-research file, paid for by the Clinton campaign and the DNC, an unearned le Carré flourish.