>>> THE NEW BOOK IS CALLED "CRIME IN PROGRESS: INSIDE THE
STEELE DOSSIER AND THE FUSION
GPS INVESTIGATION OF DONALD
TRUMP."
TRUMP." FUSION GPS HAS BEEN TURNED INTO
AN EPITHET IN THE WORDS, IN THE
MOUTHS OF HOUSE REPUBLICANS AND
SOME SENATE REPUBLICANS IT
TRYING TO ESSENTIALLY BLAME YOU
GUYS FOR HAVING INVENTED THE
MYTH THAT RUSSIA INTERFERED IN
THE 2016 ELECTION.
YOU WRITE ABOUT HOW BEING AWARE
AT THE TIME WHEN YOU GUYS WERE
DOING YOUR WORK THAT THERE WAS
GOING TO BE BLOW-BACK, THAT YOU
WOULD BECOME TARGET, YOU WRITE
IN VERY SERIOUS TERMS ABOUT THE
RISK TO THE SOURCES WHO WERE
USED TO COLLECT SOME OF THIS
INFORMATION.
INFORMATION. DID YOU ANTICIPATE THAT YOU
WOULD -- THAT YOUR LIVES WOULD
BE TRANSFORMED TO THE DEGREE
THAT
THAT THEY HAVE?
THEY HAVE? >> I MEAN, WE KNEW THAT WOULD
HAPPEN WHEN ONCE THE DOSSIER WAS
PUBLISHED BY BUZZFEED.
>> YEAH.
>> YEAH. >> JANUARY OF 2017.
BUT I DON’T KNOW IF WE WERE AS
FORMER JOURNALISTS WE WERE THAT
WELL PREPARED FOR THE SCALE AND
THE BIVINALITY OF THE LIES BEING
TOLD ON THE RIGHT ABOUT US.
>> I WENT TO COLLEGE IN
WASHINGTON.
WASHINGTON. I BASICALLY SPOKE MOST OF MY
PROFESSION FALL LIFE IN
WASHINGTON COVERING SCANDALS SO
THERE WAS SOME ABILITY TO
ANTICIPATE WHAT MIGHT HAPPEN TO
US IN TERMS OF INVESTIGATIONS
AND LEGAL COSTS AND OWLALL OF TH
BUT THIS IS SO OFF THE CHARTS OF
ANYTHING I’VE EVER SEEN, YOU
KNOW, IN MY CAREER IN WASHINGTON
THERE THE AMOUNT OF CONCERTED
EFFORT TO DESTROY US THROUGH
LAWSUITS, CONGRESSIONAL
LAWSUITS, CONGRESSIONAL INVESTIGATIONS, RIGHT-WING MEDIA
ATTACKS, I MEAN, IT’S BEEN WILD.
>> WE HAVE GREAT COMPANY NOW,
FORMER AMBASSADORS, FORMER FBI
DIRECTORS, AND A NUMBER OF
OTHERS, RIGHT?
OTHERS, RIGHT? >> YEAH.
>> YEAH. >> ANYONE WHO CRITICIZES THIS
PRESIDENT IS ATTACKED
MERCILESSLY.
MERCILESSLY. >> BECAUSE THE BOOK IS COMING
OUT NOW IN THE MIDST OF THE
IMPEACHMENT OF DONALD TRUMP, ON
THIS UKRAINE ISSUE, I DO WANT TO
ASK YOU TO TALK A LITTLE BIT
ABOUT THE MANAFORT FACTOR
BECAUSE THERE IS DRAMA, SORT OF
PERSONAL DRAMA IN THE WAY THAT
YOU GUYS WRITE ABOUT HOW YOU HAD
PREVIOUS KNOWLEDGE OF MANAFORT.
YOU’VE LOOKED INTO MANAFORT IN
YOUR JOURNALISTIC ENTERPRISES IN
THE PAST AND THROUGH SOME OTHERP
TRUMP’S CAMPAIGN YOU WERE
SHOCKED FOR A NUMBER OF REASONS.
MANAFORT ALSO SEEMS TO BE
PLAYING A PRETTY CONSIDERABLE
ROLE IN THE CURRENT SCHEME FOR
WHICH THE PRESIDENT IS BEING
IMPEACHED.
IMPEACHED. RRCH
RRCH RUDY GIULIANI SAID HE’S BEEN
CONSULTING WITH MANAFORT ON
STRATEGY ON THIS MATTER.
>> SURE.
>> SURE. >> CAN YOU HELP PEOPLE
UNDERSTAND THE IMPORTANCE OF MAN
MANAFORT?
MANAFORT? HE’S STARTING TO BE SEEN AS A
FIGURE HERE, BUT YOU SAW HIM AS
REALLY CENTRAL.
REALLY CENTRAL. >> THE INITIAL REACTION WHEN HE
WAS HIRED TO HELP RUN THE
CAMPAIGN WAS JUST SHOCK AND
DISBELIEF AND WE JUST ASSUMED HE
WOULD QUICKLY GO UP IN FLAMES
AND WOULD BE, YOU KNOW, BURIED
IN SCANDAL FROM HIS PAST.
THAT ACTUALLY DIDN’T HAPPEN.
AS TIME WENT ON, WE BEGAN TO
THINK THAT HE WAS THERE FOR A
REASON AND THAT IT WAS NOT A
COINCIDENCE THAT HE HAD JOINED
THE CAMPAIGN.
THE CAMPAIGN. >> WHAT DO YOU MEAN?
>> WELL, AFTER THE PLATFORM,
AFTER THE REPUBLICANS CHANGED
THE PLATFORM DURING THEIR
CONVENTION TO MAKE IT SOFTER ON
UKRAINE, THAT SEEMED LIKE
SOMETHING THAT MANAFORT PROBABLY
HAD A HAND IN AND REALLY THE
ONLY BENEFICIARY OF THAT WAS
RUSSIA.
RUSSIA. SO IT’S A PUZZLE, AND THESE
PIECES ARE STARTING TO COME
TOGETHER AND THEY MAKE IT MORE
SUSPICIOUS THAT SOMETHING IS
GOING ON HERE.
>> JUST TO BACK UP HALF A STEP,
PAUL MANAFORT WAS ONE OF THE
MOST RUTHLESS BELTWAY BANDITS ON
THE REPUBLICAN SIDE FOR MANY
YEARS WORKING FOR DICTATORS
AROUND THE WORLD.
ET CETERA, ET CETERA.
YOU KNOW, HE POPPED BACK UP IN
THE MID-OTs, 2000s, WORKING FOR
N
N YANOKOVITCH.
YANOKOVITCH. HTH
HTH PRESIDENT OF UKRAINE.
WE WORKED ON STORIES AFTER THAT.
AT THE TIME, THOUGH, HE SORT OF
DISAPPEARED AND FOR A WHILE, HE
REALLY DISAPPEARED AND TURNED
OUT HE WAS IN WITH OLEG
DERIPASKA.
DERIPASKA. GLENN WHO’S SOMETHING OF A
WIZARD WHEN IT COMES TO PUBLIC
DOCUMENTS TURNED UP THE FACT
THAT HE WAS BEING PURSUED BY
OLEG DERIPSKA FOR A DEBT HE OWED
HIM.
HIM. >> SEVERAL MILLION DOLLARS.
>> MORE THAN SEVERAL HUNDRED --
>> TENS.
>> TENS. >> TENS OF MILLIONS OF DOLLARS.
>> AND --
>> AND -- >> TO THE EFFECT -- TO THE POINT
THAT A SERVICE PROCESSER LOOKED
FOR PAUL MANAFORT IN VIRGINIA
AND COULDN’T FIND HIM.
THAT’S HOW OFF THE MAP HE WAS.
>> WHEN DONALD TRUMP PICKED HIM
TO RUN HIS CAMPAIGN.
>> CORRECT.
>> CORRECT. >> THE PRECEDING YEAR OR TWO.
YES.
YES. THE FUNDAMENTAL THING WE LEARNED
WHEN WE WERE COVERING RUSSIAN
OLIGARCHS AND RUSSIAN CORRUPTION
IN THE 2000s WAS THAT PUTIN
EXERCISES HIS INFLUENCE IN THE
WEST VIA HIS LOYAL OLIGARCHS.
IT’S AN INFORMAL SYSTEM, BUT
THEY TAKE DIRECTION FROM THE
KREMLIN.
KREMLIN. >> GLENN SIMPSON AND PETER
FRITSCH CO-FOUNDERS OF FUSION
GPS.
GPS. THE BOOK "IS CRIME IN PROGRESS.