MR. JORDAN: Dr. H'i11, was Christopher Steele's dossier a rabbi t hole?
DR. HILL: I thi nk i t was a rabbi t hole.
MR. JORDAN: You think the Russians were trying to influence us and get us to buy into something that was absolutely not true?
DR. HILL: But that was not on any basis once I got into the administration I didn't see that that was a rabbit hole that my former colleagues in the Natjonal Intelligence Council had gone down to. The way that the Russians operate is that they will use whatever conduit they can to put out information that is both real and credible but that also masks a great deal of disinformation. So I've written a book on Vladimir Putin, and if you, you know, have a moment when you want to have a sleep aid, you know, late at night, I've laid all of that out there. And Putjn himself has gone around, you know, claiming there were dossiers on h'im trying to red j rect people to look in other places for i nformati on
[My note: It's not a sleep aid. It's heavy lumber, sure, but it's one of the best Putin books.]
When I was at the Nationat Intelligence Council there was some person who kept constantly writing to us, telling us that we were missing, you know, whole things about, you know, Vladimir Putin, which was clearly, you know, kind of an effort on the part of the Russians to send us down rabbit holes of inquiry that would kind of distract us from looking at the actual issues that we should be rea11y concerned about. And thi s was under the Bush admi ni strati on .
MR. JORDAN: So I j ust want to be c1ear, there was a story done in Politico on you last month. In that reporting it says Steele might have been played by the Russians into spreading disinformation. That's what you think happened wi th
DR. HILL: It's very 1ike1y that the Russians planted disinformation in and among other jnformat"ion that may have been truthful, because that's exactly, again, the way that they operate. And I think everyone should always be cogni zant of that.
MR. J0RDAN: Yeah. So i nformation that Chri stopher 5tee1e was played by the Russians, that information was used, as you well know, by our Justice Department, specifically our FBI, as part of the basis for securing a warrant to spy on an American citizen.
DR. HILL: I think it's already come out that that wasn't exactly the case, that the dossier was basically out there when those investigations had already taken place.
MR. JORDAN: WeIl, that's not accurate. It was part of what was taken
DR. HILL: Wel1, some of the information was that it had come through other ways. But, look, I don't want to also get into, again, a discussion that could go down a ctassified avenue, I just want to te11 you oo, You know, that the Russians
MR. JORDAN: I'm not disPuting that.
DR. HI LL : attacked our democracy . And also, the point that actually hasn't come out and, again, why I've been very cross in the media, is that the Pres'ident waS attacked aS we11, because the Russians sought to discredit him. And I've been very unhappy with the media coverage of all of this, which is why I don't want to start, you know, k'ind of basi cal1y doi ng test'imony by vi rtue of an arti c1e that you've read in Politico. Because everybody wants to sensationalize things, everybody wants to spend time look'ing at the things that seem sexy, and they don't want to actually look at, you know, talk to what the facts are.
MR. JORDAN: I'm not trying to do that. Doctor, te11 me about your relationship with Chri stopher Steele.
DR. HILL: He was my counterpart when I was the director, the national intelligence officer.
JORDAN: And so HI LL: So i nevi tably , when I had to do l'iai son meet'ings wi th the U. K. , he was the person I had to meet wi th.
MR. JORDAN: And so you had a worki ng relat'ionship wi th him for how long? DR. HILL: For the whole period that I was national intelligence officer, so that would be from 2005 to the end of 2009.
MR. J0RDAN: 0kay.
DR. HILL: 5o anybody who was working in the intelligence agencies at the time
MR. JORDAN: I get it.
DR. HILL: -- who was dealing with Russia would have to deal wi th hi m. He reti red as I understand, at the end of 2009.
MR. J0RDAN: The story on you says that you spoke with him in 2015. So can you tel1 me about that conversation? DR. HILL: That was prior to the t'ime that I had any knowledge about the dossier. He was constantly trying to drum up business, and he had contacted me because he wanted to see if I could give him a contact to some other individual, who actually I don't even recal1 now, who he could approach about some business issues. MR. JORDAN: And earlier you said there were all kinds of folks who contacted you from time to tjme wanting to get involved and have contact w'ith various political campaigns. Is Mr. Steele one of those i ndiv'iduals
DR. HILL: He was not.
MR. JORDAN: He was not, okay. And then the same article mentions that yotl, when you were hired, as soon as you were hired you told Mr. McMaster that you had worked with Mr. Steele. Is that right?
DR. HILL: Yes, in the course of my official duties as NIO, because I thought , obvi ously , gi ven the si tuati on , i t would be worth saying that. I also told Ambassador Bolton this as we1I.
MR. J0RDAN: Okay. And you did that based on the fact that Steele was i n the news?
DR. HILL: Correct.
MR. JORDAN: Okay. And you did that after you were hired or before you were hired?
DR. HILL: I mentioned it to General Kellogg when he was i ntervi ewi ng me as well .
MR. JORDAN: 0kay.
DR. HILL: I mean, you can't, you know, choose who you have to interact with.