On Thursday, the House of Representatives released the declassified intelligence committee testimony of Fusion GPS founder Glenn Simpson — and journalists immediately began perusing the 165 pages for clues.
The lengthy interview contained ample twists and turns, but below are five of the biggest revelations from Simpson's testimony.
1. The Kremlin used the release of the "Trump-Russia" dossier to justify a massive purge.
As The Daily Beast's Betsy Woodruff wrote, "The Kremlin used the publication of his firm’s dossier—which contains salacious and unsubstantiated allegations about Trump—as a pretext for a spate of arrests and killings," and some of the people expelled from the intelligence institution may have been "American sources."
2. Vladimir Putin was "very interested" in the Jewish diaspora.
As Raw Story reported after the Simpson testimony was released, the research firm executive claimed the Russian government infiltrated the Orthodox Jewish and Christian churches for intelligence purposes.
3. A supposed "Russian gangster" ran a "high-stakes gambling ring" out of Trump Tower.
In one of the more difficult-to-corroborate aspects of his testimony, Simpson claimed that a Russian gangster known as "Taiwanchik" made Trump Tower his base of operations for a "high stakes gambling ring" — and that this knowledge led Fusion GPS to hire former British spy Christopher Steele to investigate.
4. Jared and Ivanka's marriage was a business decision.
Though he attempted to be "polite" about it, Simpson suggested that Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump's marriage had a "business element" to it.
5. Fusion GPS was looking into Kushner's use a controversial visa program that allowed foreign investors to "buy" their way into the U.S.
Simpson revealed that his research firm had been looking into Kushner's use of the EB-5 visa program that critics say allows wealthy investors to get green cards in exchange for investments.
