Glenn R. Simpson
{{Short description|American journalist (born 1964)}}
{{Use American English|date=November 2017}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=November 2017}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Glenn R. Simpson
| birth_place =
| death_date =
| death_place =
| education = George Washington University (BA)
| occupation = Journalist and author
| known for = Co-founder, Fusion GPS
| spouse =
}}
Glenn Richard Simpson (born 1964) is an American former journalist who worked for The Wall Street Journal until 2009, and then co-founded the Washington-based research business Fusion GPS.{{cite web |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/11/us/politics/donald-trump-russia-intelligence.html |title=How a Sensational, Unverified Dossier Became a Crisis for Donald Trump |first1=Scott |last1=Shane |author-link=Scott Shane |first2=Nicholas |last2=Confessore |author-link2=Nicholas Confessore |first3=Matthew |last3=Rosenberg |author-link3=Matthew Rosenberg |date=January 11, 2017 |work=The New York Times |access-date=January 17, 2017 |archive-date=February 11, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180211072116/https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/11/us/politics/donald-trump-russia-intelligence.html |url-status=live }} He was also a senior fellow at the International Assessment and Strategy Center.{{cite web|last1=Simpson|first1=Glenn R. |title= U.S. Identifies Russian 'Nexus' of Organized Crime |url=http://www.strategycenter.net/research/pubID.223/pub_detail.asp |website= International Assessment and Strategy Center |access-date= 2017-01-29 |date= 2010-02-10 |url-status= dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20170202050051/http://www.strategycenter.net/research/pubID.223/pub_detail.asp |archive-date= 2017-02-02}}
He is the co-author of Dirty Little Secrets: The Persistence of Corruption in American Politics written with political scientist Larry Sabato and published in 1996.{{cite interview |subject= Larry Sabato |title= Dirty Little Secrets |date= 1996-06-29 |access-date= 2017-01-29 |type= radio program |website= NPR |url= https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1009131 |archive-date= January 12, 2018 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20180112160310/https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1009131 |url-status= live }} A New York Times book review called the book's approach "fiercely bipartisan".{{cite news |last1= Mitchell |first1= Greg |author-link1= Greg Mitchell |title= Politics Most Foul |type= book review |url= https://www.nytimes.com/1996/06/16/books/politics-most-foul.html |date= 1996-06-16 |access-date= 2017-01-17 |newspaper= The New York Times |archive-date= January 18, 2017 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20170118050646/http://www.nytimes.com/1996/06/16/books/politics-most-foul.html |url-status= live }}
Early life
Simpson graduated from Conestoga High School in 1982, then went to George Washington University, where his neck was broken in a car crash.{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/08/us/politics/fusion-gps-glenn-simpson.html|title=Fusion GPS Founder Hauled From the Shadows for the Russia Election Investigation|first=Matt|last=Flegenheimer|work=The New York Times|date=March 31, 2018|access-date=March 31, 2018|via=NYTimes.com|archive-date=March 23, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180323030558/https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/08/us/politics/fusion-gps-glenn-simpson.html|url-status=live}}
Career
Before Simpson worked for The Wall Street Journal, he was a reporter for Roll Call, where he broke stories on GOPAC, a political action committee headed by House Speaker Newt Gingrich.
Simpson left journalism in part to earn more money. Explaining why he left journalism, he quipped: "We don't use the word 'sold out.' We use the word 'cashed in.'"{{cite news |last1= Gillum |first1= Jack |last2= Boburg |first2= Shawn |title= 'Journalism for rent': Inside the secretive firm behind the Trump dossier |date= 2017-12-11 |access-date= 2018-01-12 |newspaper= The Washington Post |url= https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/journalism-for-rent-inside-the-secretive-firm-behind-the-trump-dossier/2017/12/11/8d5428d4-bd89-11e7-af84-d3e2ee4b2af1_story.html |archive-date= January 4, 2018 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20180104033849/https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/journalism-for-rent-inside-the-secretive-firm-behind-the-trump-dossier/2017/12/11/8d5428d4-bd89-11e7-af84-d3e2ee4b2af1_story.html |url-status= live }}
=Trump opposition research=
{{Wikisource|Senate Judiciary Committee Interview of Glenn Simpson}}
{{Wikisource|House Intelligence Committee Interview of Glenn Simpson}}
{{main|Steele dossier}}
From September 2015 to May 2016, Simpson was retained by a conservative newspaper, the Washington Free Beacon, to collect information on many of the Republican presidential candidates, including Donald Trump.{{cite news |first1=Kenneth P. |last1=Vogel |author-link=Kenneth P. Vogel |first2=Maggie |last2=Haberman |author-link2=Maggie Haberman |title=Conservative Website First Funded Anti-Trump Research by Firm That Later Produced Dossier |date=October 27, 2017 |access-date=2017-10-28 |website=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/27/us/politics/trump-dossier-paul-singer.html |archive-date=March 26, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220326220351/https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/27/us/politics/trump-dossier-paul-singer.html |url-status=live }}{{cite web|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/clinton-lawyer-kept-russian-dossier-project-closely-held/2017/10/27/e7935276-ba68-11e7-be94-fabb0f1e9ffb_story.html|title=Clinton lawyer kept Russian dossier project closely held|first=Michael|last=Kranish|date=October 27, 2017|access-date=November 2, 2017|via=www.WashingtonPost.com|archive-date=February 17, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180217065359/https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/clinton-lawyer-kept-russian-dossier-project-closely-held/2017/10/27/e7935276-ba68-11e7-be94-fabb0f1e9ffb_story.html|url-status=live}}
In April 2016, the Democratic National Committee and the Hillary Clinton campaign's law firm, Perkins Coie, retained Simpson's company Fusion GPS. From April 2016 into early May, the Washington Free Beacon and the Clinton Campaign/DNC were independently both clients of Fusion GPS. In June 2016, Fusion GPS hired Christopher Steele, a former MI6 agent, to obtain information on Trump. Steele used his "old contacts and farmed out other research to native Russian speakers who made phone calls on his behalf".{{cite web|url=http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2017/01/the-making-of-the-bombshell-trump-dossier.html|title=The Making of the Bombshell Trump Dossier Dominating the News|first=Adam K.|last=Raymond|website=NYMag.com|date=January 12, 2017|access-date=November 2, 2017|archive-date=October 24, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171024021029/http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2017/01/the-making-of-the-bombshell-trump-dossier.html|url-status=live}} After November 2016, funding from the Democratic Party ceased, and Simpson reportedly spent his own money to fund further work on the dossier.{{cite web |work=The Independent |title=Trump-Russia dossier sources revealed to the FBI by Christopher Steele |first=Mythili |last=Sampathkumar |date=August 23, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170829132009/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/trump-russia-dossier-sources-christopher-steele-fbi-senate-judiciary-robert-mueller-a7908946.html |archive-date=August 29, 2017 |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/trump-russia-dossier-sources-christopher-steele-fbi-senate-judiciary-robert-mueller-a7908946.html}}
=Congressional testimony=
In 2017 during Congressional inquiries into Russian interference in the 2016 United States elections, Simpson testified before the House Intelligence Committee that Roger Stone, Steve Bannon, and Ted Malloch, a "significant figure" in the Brexit campaign, had ties to each other.{{cite news|url=https://www.cnn.com/2018/03/30/politics/fbi-malloch-questions-mueller/index.html|title=Federal investigators question Ted Malloch in special counsel probe|date=March 30, 2018|work=CNN|last1=Prokupecz|first1=Shimon|last2=Herb|first2=Jeremy|access-date=January 9, 2019|archive-date=March 30, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180330232747/https://www.cnn.com/2018/03/30/politics/fbi-malloch-questions-mueller/index.html|url-status=live}}
On August 22, 2017, Simpson was questioned for 10 hours by the Senate Judiciary Committee in a closed-door meeting. The Committee did not release a transcript of the hearing. Simpson reportedly did not reveal the identities of his clients.{{cite news|last1=Dukakis|first1=Ali|last2=Mosk|first2=Matthew|title=Attorney: Glenn Simpson did not reveal clients for Trump 'dossier' to investigators|url=https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/attorney-glenn-simpson-reveal-clients-trump-dossier-investigators/story?id=49367909|work=ABC News|date=August 22, 2017|access-date=August 25, 2017|archive-date=November 10, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211110011934/https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/attorney-glenn-simpson-reveal-clients-trump-dossier-investigators/story?id=49367909|url-status=live}} The transcript was unilaterally released by Senator Dianne Feinstein on January 9, 2018.{{Cite news |last= Cheney |first= Kyle |url= https://www.politico.com/story/2018/01/09/feinstein-releases-transcript-of-interview-with-fusion-gps-co-founder-329573 |title= Feinstein releases transcript of interview with Fusion GPS co-founder |work= Politico |date= 2018-01-09 |access-date= 2018-01-09 |archive-date= May 21, 2023 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20230521143204/https://www.politico.com/story/2018/01/09/feinstein-releases-transcript-of-interview-with-fusion-gps-co-founder-329573 |url-status= live }}{{Cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/feinstein-releases-testimony-of-glenn-simpson-whose-research-firm-fusion-gps-was-behind-trump-dossier/2018/01/09/15da150a-f562-11e7-beb6-c8d48830c54d_story.html|title=Feud over Trump dossier intensifies with release of interview transcript|last1=Barrett|first1=Devlin|last2=Hamburger|first2=Tom|date=2018-01-10|newspaper=The Washington Post|access-date=2018-01-11|archive-date=January 9, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180109184801/https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/feinstein-releases-testimony-of-glenn-simpson-whose-research-firm-fusion-gps-was-behind-trump-dossier/2018/01/09/15da150a-f562-11e7-beb6-c8d48830c54d_story.html|url-status=live}}
Publications
{{external media| float = right| video1 = [https://www.c-span.org/video/?72333-1/dirty-secrets Booknotes interview with Simpson on Dirty Little Secrets, June 30, 1996], C-SPAN| video2 = [https://www.c-span.org/video/?466959-1/crime-progress Interview with Simpson on Crime in Progress, December 11, 2019], C-SPAN}}
- Glenn Simpson and Larry Sabato, Dirty Little Secrets: The Persistence of Corruption in American Politics, 1996.
- Glenn Simpson and Peter Fritsch, Crime in Progress: Inside the Steele Dossier and the Fusion GPS Investigation of Donald Trump, 2019.
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- {{cite interview |subject= Glenn Simpson |interviewer= U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee |title= Glenn Simpson's testimony re Trump-Russia dossier |date= 2017-08-22 |type= redacted transcript |website= Official U.S. Senate website of Senator Dianne Feinstein |url= https://www.feinstein.senate.gov/public/_cache/files/3/9/3974a291-ddbe-4525-9ed1-22bab43c05ae/934A3562824CACA7BB4D915E97709D2F.simpson-transcript-redacted.pdf |access-date= January 12, 2018 |archive-date= October 10, 2018 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20181010135837/https://www.feinstein.senate.gov/public/_cache/files/3/9/3974a291-ddbe-4525-9ed1-22bab43c05ae/934A3562824CACA7BB4D915E97709D2F.simpson-transcript-redacted.pdf |url-status= live }}
- {{C-SPAN|16946}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Simpson, Glenn R.}}
Category:American male journalists
Category:The Wall Street Journal people
Category:People associated with Russian interference in the 2016 United States elections