Former State Department official Victoria Nuland, who reportedly connected FBI officials to the former British spy who wrote the infamous anti-Trump dossier, will testify before the Senate Intelligence Committee next week.
Ms. Nuland, a longtime State Department official who served in the George W. Bush administration as the U.S. Ambassador to NATO, served during the Obama administration as assistant secretary of state for European and Eurasian Affairs.
In that capacity, according to the book “Russian Roulette,” she played an instrumental role in the evolution of Christopher Steele’s negative campaign research on then-presidential candidate Donald Trump in 2016 by giving permission for an FBI agent in London to meet with the former U.K. intelligence officer.
“Russian Roulette” was published earlier this year and written by veteran Washington media figures, Yahoo News reporter Michael Isikoff and Mother Jones magazine’s David Corn.
Mr. Steele’s 35-page dossier — an unverified collection of raw opposition research created to destroy Mr. Trump’s candidacy and paid for by Democrats — kicked off unprecedented speculation and investigation into possible collusion between the Trump campaign and the Kremlin, which Mr. Steele alleged.
Republicans have roundly criticized the FBI for relying on the material to partially justify approving surveillance in 2016 and 2017 on Trump campaign associates.
Multiple congressional committees have investigated how Obama officials promoted Mr. Steele’s work.
On Wednesday, committee members will have their turn discussing the subject with Ms. Nuland, panel chairman Richard Burr, North Carolina Republican, and Democratic colleague Mark Warner of Virginia announced late Friday.
The public hearing will be the committee’s first examining “the policy response to Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. elections.”
Michael Daniel, former White House cybersecurity coordinator and special assistant to President Obama, will also testify.
• Dan Boylan can be reached at dboylan@washingtontimes.com.
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