The opposition research firm behind the Trump dossier says that a House Intelligence Committee subpoena seeking its bank records has a good chance of “ruining” its business, as well as of putting its clients’ safety at risk.
The firm, Fusion GPS, also argued in a late-night court filing that the subpoena, issued earlier this month for TD Bank, will have a “chilling” effect on the First Amendment and privacy rights of it and its clients.
“In short, compliance with this subpoena will not only harm Plaintiff’s business, it has a high likelihood of ruining it,” reads one of the arguments presented by Fusion GPS in court papers filed in federal court in Washington, D.C.
Fusion’s argument is part of a mad dash effort to prevent the House committee from finding out who hired the firm to investigate Trump. That question has remained a closely-held secret ever since the dossier, written by former British spy Christopher Steele, was published by BuzzFeed in January.
Fusion has refused to identify its clients in response to numerous lawsuits filed against the firm as well as against BuzzFeed and Steele. Fusion founder Glenn Simpson also refused to identify clients during an Aug. 22 interview with the Senate Judiciary Committee.
According to various news reports, Fusion was first hired in September 2015 by a Republican “Never Trumper” to investigate the real estate mogul. By the following June, a Hillary Clinton ally had hired Fusion to continue the Trump project. That’s when Steele, a former MI6 agent, was hired to investigate Trump’s activities in Russia.
