John McCain Associate Gave Dossier to Buzzfeed
By The Daily Caller. A longtime associate of late Republican Arizona Sen. John McCain provided a copy of the infamous Steele dossier to BuzzFeed News, according to an explosive court filing released Wednesday.
David Kramer, a former State Department official who was an executive at the McCain Institute, met on Dec. 29, 2016 with BuzzFeed reporter Ken Bensinger, according to a filing submitted Wednesday by U.S. District Court Judge Ursula Ungaro.
BuzzFeed published the dossier, which was authored by former British spy Christopher Steele, on Jan. 10, 2017.
The disclosure was made as part of a final report ahead of Ungaro’s ruling in favor of BuzzFeed in a defamation lawsuit.
The revelation that Kramer was BuzzFeed’s source settles one of the main mysteries of the dossier, which alleges a vast conspiracy between the Trump campaign and Russian government to influence the 2016 election. (Read more from “John McCain Associate Gave Dossier to Buzzfeed” HERE)
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‘Fair Report Privilege’: Judge Backs BuzzFeed in Russian’s Lawsuit Over Steele Dossier
By RT. A federal judge in Florida ruled for BuzzFeed in a defamation lawsuit brought by a Russian internet entrepreneur accused of hacking the Democratic Party in the salacious Steele dossier that was published by the outlet.
Because BuzzFeed did not attest to the truth of the allegations contained in the dossier and published the documents in their entirety, the outlet is protected under the doctrine of fair report privilege, US District Court Judge Ursula Ungaro ruled on Wednesday in Miami.
“The privilege exists to protect the media while they gather the information needed for the public to exercise effective oversight of the government,” Ungaro wrote in her decision. “The privilege protects the media even when they report on official action that the government would like to keep secret.”
A filing submitted with the judge’s ruling revealed that David Kramer, a longtime associate of the late Senator John McCain, gave the dossier to BuzzFeed reporter Ken Bensinger. Kramer also advised McCain to share the report with the CIA and FBI. (Read more from “‘Fair Report Privilege’: Judge Backs BuzzFeed in Russian’s Lawsuit Over Steele Dossier” HERE)
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