What kind of established journalist, with a respected reputation and employed by a reputable media outlet, sends drafts of unpublished work for editing/suggestions/feedback to individuals without any connection to their employer? The type exemplified by Franklin Foer. What kind of well-established media organization allows a professional journalist to receive directives from press advisors linked to the worst criminal activities in Russia and Venezuela? The type like Reuters. Ultimately, Fusion GPS was already on the payroll of Derwick Associates. Universally regarded as one of the leading research/due diligence firms in the United States, Fusion GPS never disclosed to any of the journalists/media it was pressuring to publish misinformation that its Venezuelan clients (Derwick) and Russian intelligence/diplomats were business partners. In the context of the “golden shower dossier” that allegedly involves Donald Trump, Fusion GPS also failed to inform Democrats that Denis Katsyv and Natalia Veselnitskaya were their simultaneous employers.
In the series The Dropout, which chronicles Elizabeth Holmes and the multi-million dollar fraud committed through Theranos, David Boies’ visit to the Wall Street Journal offices is portrayed, aimed at undermining John Carreyrou’s groundbreaking exposé. One character was missing from the scenes: Peter Fritsch from Fusion GPS. Fritsch flew to Caracas at the end of July 2014 with his colleague and fellow Derwick employee, Adam Kaufmann. The purpose of the visit was identical to what Boies and Fritsch attempted with Carreyrou: character assassination in an unfolding WSJ story, this time involving the multi-billion dollar corruption scheme of Derwick. The unfortunate difference is that, in Derwick’s case, Fusion GPS succeeded.
It would take years for the U.S. press to finally catch up with the unmistakable stench of Derwick. Washington Post reporter Tom Hamburger, another journalist who continued consulting Fusion GPS, ultimately redeemed himself by exposing Alejandro Betancourt (CEO of Derwick) and his lobbyist Rudy Giuliani. The fact that Giuliani is/were Donald Trump’s personal attorney may have nudged Hamburger against the “absorbently clean” image of Derwick that was created and disseminated, for a hefty fee, by Fusion GPS.
Reuters, the employer of Mark Hosenball, another professional journalist enamored with Fusion GPS’s “research,” eventually published a profile on Betancourt. In that instance, Reuters’ misstep was to have plagiarized almost the entirety of its “special report” on Betancourt.
Informed journalism regarding consultations with firms like Fusion GPS is the norm these days. Christopher Steele, the man at the center of the “golden shower dossier” scandal and a source for Fusion GPS, remains a favorite among some of the most reputable liberal media outlets and is still officially consulted on Russian matters despite his shattered credibility. Obvious conflicts of interest are never disclosed unless criminal investigations uncover wrongdoing.
Unfortunately, the email exchanges between renowned journalists/media and Fusion GPS are just a small part of the story. The crux of the matter, of course, is the illicit funds obtained from Russia, Venezuela, and other similarly tyrannical locations that 1) keep the misinformation machine in the heart of the United States operational, and 2) obstruct law enforcement and justice through lobbying.