HOW BIG A DEAL IS THIS? – AT 11:46 A.M. ET:  It's huge, as they say, if the Republicans know how to handle it.  And it's huge if our attorney general gets on the stick and pursues it.  From The Washington Post (strangely) via the Seattle Times: 

The Hillary Clinton campaign and the Democratic National Committee (DNC) helped fund research that resulted in a now-famous dossier containing allegations about Donald Trump’s connections to Russia and possible coordination between his campaign and the Kremlin, people familiar with the matter said.

Marc Elias, a lawyer representing the Clinton campaign and the DNC, retained Fusion GPS, a Washington, D.C., firm, to conduct the research. Fusion GPS hired dossier author Christopher Steele, a former British intelligence officer with ties to the FBI and the U.S. intelligence community.

Elias and his law firm, Seattle-based Perkins Coie, retained the firm in April 2016 on behalf of the Clinton campaign and the DNC. Before that agreement, Fusion GPS’ research into Trump was funded by a still unknown Republican client during the GOP primary.

The Clinton campaign and the DNC, through the law firm, continued to fund Fusion GPS’ research through the end of October 2016, days before Election Day.

COMMENT:  This is only the surface.  Only one of the Democratic scandals to bubble up in recent days.  Another deals with the fact that Russia controls 20% of American uranium because of a deal made during the Obama administration.  And those who pushed for the deal made massive contributions to the Clinton Foundation while Hillary Clinton was secretary of state.

Watch carefully over the coming weeks to see if these scandals go front and center, or whether they're buried.  The Republicans have the ball.  We're looking at their offense.

October 25,  2017