Her Majesty’s Government Signals Steele Is Being Left Out To Dry

June 5, 2019 (EIRNS)—Under the heading of the “Trump State Visit,” The Times of London published a story yesterday, signed by its defense editor, laying out the terms which “former” MI6 agent Christopher Steele seeks to negotiate for any questioning by U.S. officials in the Russiagate investigation. The dossier on Trump that Steele wrote for the DNC and the Hillary Clinton campaign was used by the FBI and Obama Justice Department to surveille the Trump campaign, including seeking a warrant from the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) Court.

Steele’s conditions for questioning include being interviewed (in London) by people from the Department of Justice’s Office of the Inspector General (IG Michael Horowitz has no power to prosecute), limiting questioning to “the narrow remit of his dealings with the FBI,” and asking “U.S. officials to seek the approval of the British government” for questioning him, “a source close to him” told The Times.

But The Times delivers the public message that Her Majesty’s Government (HMG) has cut Steele off. A “senior source” told The Times: “As far as we are aware, no request has been made to HMG on this matter. Any decision to cooperate would be a matter for Mr. Steele, as this relates to issues arising many years after he left government employment.”

How Attorney General William Barr and the DOJ will respond to Steele’s proposed “conditions,” has not been determined.

Steele knows what’s up. New York Times national security reporter Matthew Rosenberg told CNN yesterday that Steele “is incredibly concerned, maybe obsessed, that this investigation is going to throw him under the bus.”

The prospect of Steele discussing anything at all, with anyone at the DOJ, sent Phil Mudd, a former CIA analyst turned CNN contributor, into outer orbit. Christopher, don’t do it! Mudd raved to CNN’s Wolf Blitzer yesterday.

“I’m telling you, Wolf, this is not going to go well. I can’t believe he [Steele] has perfect answers about the origins of the Steele dossier. I’m not even sure why he’s showing up. If I were him, I’d go to Disney World. I would not go to the Department of Justice, because it will not end up well. This will be a car wreck.”