Ep. 364 — Fusion GPS (Glenn Simpson and Peter Fritsch)

The Axe Files with David Axelrod

CNN

News

4.6 • 7.7K Ratings

🗓️ 30 January 2020

⏱️ 59 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Glenn Simpson and Peter Fritsch are the co-founders of Fusion GPS, the private research firm behind the Steele “Trump-Russia” dossier. Simpson and Fritsch join David to discuss their joint roots as Wall Street Journal reporters, how the research skills they developed as journalists translated to careers in private investigative work, how they met Christopher Steele and the formulation of the Steele Dossier, and what they learned about Donald Trump following a private investigation of then-candidate Trump.

Their new book, Crime in Progress, takes readers inside the firm’s four-year-long investigation into Donald Trump’s Russia ties—culminating in what became known as the Steele dossier.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Music
0:06.0	And now, from the University of Chicago Institute of Politics and CNN Audio, the Ax Files with
0:12.5	your host, David Axelrod.
0:16.8	Fusion GPS, it was a small DC research company.
0:20.8	It took on mythic proportions in the Washington political wars for their deep dive into Donald
0:25.6	Trump and his Russian connections, including the notorious Steele Dacia, fair to say they
0:32.1	were worked to help to explode the story of Russia's role in the 2016 election.
0:36.8	But who are these guys?
0:37.8	Beyond the right-wing character of them is partisan pervers of smut against Trump.
0:43.2	What is the real story and the story of their research into Trump?
0:46.5	Well Fusion GPS founders Glenn Simpson and Peter Fritch tell their story in their new
0:51.9	bestselling book Crime and Progress.
0:54.6	And they sat down with me to talk about who they are, what they've done, and how they
0:58.4	went from anonymity to become a major target of the president, his supporters in Congress
1:03.5	and conservative media.
1:05.0	Here's that conversation recorded before a live audience at the Institute of Politics
1:10.2	at the University of Chicago.
1:11.7	Thank you.
1:18.7	Peter Fritch and Glenn Simpson, welcome.
1:26.0	You know, I'm an old journalist and the one thing I know about journalists is they don't
1:30.6	really like to become the story.
1:33.3	And investigative journalists in particular don't like to become the story.
	...

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