Fusion GPS

Fusion GPS was established in 2011 as a private research firm specializing in investigations, political research, corporate intelligence, and strategic communications. Its founders, Glenn Simpson and Peter Fritsch, had worked as journalists, including at The Wall Street Journal, and brought reporting methods into opposition research and litigation support. The firm has described its work as combining public-record research, interviews, and specialized investigative services rather than operating as a conventional polling or campaign-advertising company.²

Clients have included law firms, corporations, political organizations, and other private interests. Such firms occupy a legally permitted but politically sensitive space: they assemble information for clients, while the accuracy, disclosure, and intended use of the information can become matters of public controversy. Fusion GPS’s most consequential work arose from research into possible relationships between Donald Trump’s campaign and Russia during the 2016 United States presidential election.

The Steele dossier originated through a chain of commissioning arrangements rather than a single campaign contract. According to the Senate Intelligence Committee, the Washington Free Beacon funded an initial phase of opposition research during the Republican primary; after that funding ended, the Democratic National Committee and Hillary Clinton’s campaign, through the law firm Perkins Coie, funded continued research by Fusion GPS.¹

Fusion GPS then retained former British intelligence officer Christopher Steele, whose company produced reports alleging contacts and cooperation between Trump associates and Russian actors. The reports circulated among journalists, political figures, and government officials before and after the election. The Senate committee found that some allegations could not be corroborated, while other investigations established that Russia sought to interfere in the election and that some Trump associates had contacts with people connected to Russia; those findings did not validate every claim in the dossier.¹

Fusion GPS became central to disputes over the FBI’s investigation, known as Crossfire Hurricane, and the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act applications targeting former Trump campaign adviser Carter Page. The Justice Department inspector general found significant inaccuracies and omissions in the applications, including failures to support or update important assertions, although it concluded that the investigation itself was properly authorized and not shown to have been opened because of political bias.³

The controversy also concerned how politically funded research entered government channels. The Senate Intelligence Committee documented the dossier’s funding history and assessed the broader Russian influence operation, while the inspector general separately reviewed the FBI’s process. These inquiries distinguished three questions often merged in public debate: whether Russia interfered in the election, whether particular dossier allegations were accurate, and whether surveillance procedures met legal and evidentiary standards.

Fusion GPS’s work extended beyond the Trump-Russia matter and included investigations conducted for litigation, corporate disputes, and public-affairs campaigns. Its founders have also written about investigative research and political reporting, reflecting the firm’s hybrid identity between a private intelligence consultancy and a journalistic research operation.²

A less visible feature of the dossier episode is the role of intermediary institutions. Perkins Coie retained Fusion GPS on behalf of political clients, and Fusion GPS retained Steele; this structure reflected attorney-client and campaign-finance considerations but also made the ultimate funding path difficult for the public to see at first. The episode became a case study in the risks of unverified-source reporting: intelligence products may contain useful leads without constituting established facts, and later official reports treated the dossier as only one part of a much larger evidentiary record.¹³

Opposition research

The collection and analysis of information about a political opponent, usually for use in campaigns or public advocacy.

Steele dossier

A series of reports compiled in 2016 by former British intelligence officer Christopher Steele and commonly associated with Fusion GPS.

Crossfire Hurricane

The FBI’s 2016 investigation into possible coordination between Russia and individuals associated with the Trump campaign.

Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act

A United States law establishing procedures for electronic surveillance and physical searches conducted for foreign-intelligence purposes.