Responding to Tuesday's WaPo report that Hillary Clinton was the mystery financial source behind the "Russia Dossier", Trump blasted Hillary Clinton, calling the project a “disgrace” and claiming the tables have turned on Democrats over the “Russia hoax.”
"I understand they paid a tremendous amount of money and Hillary Clinton always denied it, the Democrats always denied it, and now only because it's going to come out in a court case they said "yes, they did it" and they’re embarrassed by it, but I think it’s a disgrace,” Trump told reporters, before heading to Texas for a briefing on Hurricane Harvey recovery efforts and a Republican fundraiser. “It’s a very sad commentary on politics in this country.”
Trump: Clinton involvement with Russia dossier is a “disgrace” pic.twitter.com/PAy9mctSZ7
— Jack Posobiec ???????? (@JackPosobiec) October 25, 2017
Trump repeatedly said Wednesday that this information only came out because the court case would have revealed it. Amid a series of Russia-related controversies that have Democrats – at least for now – on defense, Trump suggested the allegations of Russia collusion with his campaign were a "hoax" and have boomeranged and are hurting Democrats.
“The whole Russia thing … this was the Democrats coming up with an excuse for losing the election,” Trump told reporters. “They lost it and they lost it very badly. And they didn’t know what to say, so they made up the whole Russia hoax.”
Trump added: “Now it’s turning out that the hoax is turned around, and you look at what’s happened with Russia and the uranium deal and the fake dossier, and it’s all turned around.”
Trump was referring not only to the dossier but the Obama administration’s 2010 approval of a Canadian mining company’s sale to a Russian firm that gave them partial control of U.S. uranium reserves. “I think the uranium sale to Russia and the way it was done so underhanded with tremendous amounts of money being passed, I think that's Watergate modern age,” Trump said.
On Tuesday night, the Democratic National Committee distanced itself and washed its hands of the whole affair, stressing that the current leadership was not involved in the arrangement.
“Tom Perez and the new leadership of the DNC were not involved in any decision-making regarding Fusion GPS, nor were they aware that Perkins Coie was working with the organization," DNC Communications Director Xochitl Hinojosa said in a statement. "But let’s be clear, there is a serious federal investigation into the Trump campaign’s ties to Russia, and the American public deserves to know what happened.”
A spokesman for Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Fla., who led the DNC at the time, told Fox News on Wednesday that, “She did not have any knowledge of this arrangement.”
What exactly Hillary Clinton knew is unclear. But Clinton campaign spokesman Brian Fallon said in a statement that, “I personally wasn’t aware of this during the campaign.” However, he said, “if I had gotten handed it last fall, I would have had no problem passing it along and urging reporters to look into it.”
The Washington Post also reported that while Elias and his law firm retained Fusion GPS in April 2016, the firm’s research before that was funded by an “unknown Republican client” during the GOP primary. Asked Wednesday if he knows who that was, Trump teased the media. “I think I would know but I won’t say,” he said. “I have one name in mind. … It will probably be revealed.”