WASHINGTON _ Fusion GPS, the secretive consulting firm that produced a now-notorious dossier about President Donald Trump's alleged ties to Russia, publicly pushed back Wednesday at what they called Republican misinformation about their work.
"We're extremely proud of our work to highlight Mr. Trump's Russia ties. To have done so is our right under the First Amendment," former journalists Glenn R. Simpson and Peter Fritsch, founders of the company, wrote in a New York Times op-ed.
During the 2016 presidential campaign, Fusion GPS hired a former British intelligence officer to compile allegations about Trump, including some that were salacious and have not been verified. The effort was funded first by Republicans and later by Democrats.
Trump's allies have tried to discredit the congressional and special counsel investigations into Russia's meddling in the 2016 election as fueled by partisanship and the "fake news dossier," suggesting it played a major role in sparking the probes.
Trump has repeatedly denounced the document, which was posted online after the election, any denied any collusion with Russia.
But Simpson and Fritsch said other people, "including one inside the Trump camp," provided information to U.S. authorities about senior Trump aides meeting with Russian officials and their proxies during the campaign, and their dossier was only part of the picture.
"The intelligence committees have known for months that credible allegations of collusion between the Trump camp and Russia were pouring in from independent sources during the campaign," they wrote.
"Yet lawmakers in the thrall of the president continue to wage a cynical campaign to portray us as the unwitting victims of Kremlin disinformation."
