From Tommy Christopher:
According to The Times, Papadopoulos bragged to Australian High Commissioner to the United Kingdom Alexander Downer that the Russians possessed “dirt” on Hillary Clinton in May of 2016. After hacked emails began showing up online, Australian intelligence officials shared Papadopoulos’ revelation with U.S. intelligence officials.
“The hacking and the revelation that a member of the Trump campaign may have had inside information about it were driving factors that led the F.B.I. to open an investigation in July 2016 into Russia’s attempts to disrupt the election,” the Times reported.
On Tuesday afternoon, MSNBC host and longtime Republican consultant Nicolle Wallace pointed out that this new reporting effectively kills Trump’s new favorite talking point that the infamous “Steele dossier” was the genesis of the investigation, and that it was tainted by that dossier’s political origins.
“That ruse is dead,” Wallace declared.