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.[3] He was also a senior fellow at the International Assessment and Strategy Center.[4]
Glenn R. Simpson | |
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Born | 1964 or 1965 (age 59–60)[1] |
Education | George Washington University (BA) |
Occupation(s) | Journalist and author |
Known for | Co-founder, Fusion GPS |
Spouse | Mary Jacoby[2] |
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.[5] A New York Times book review called the book's approach "fiercely bipartisan".[6]
Simpson graduated from Conestoga High School in 1982, then went to George Washington University, where his neck was broken in a car crash.[2]
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.[6]
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.'"[7]
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.[8][9][3]
In April 2016, the Democratic National Committee and the Hillary Clinton campaign's law firm, Perkins Coie, retained Simpson's company Fusion GPS.[9] 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".[10] After November 2016, funding from the Democratic Party ceased, and Simpson reportedly spent his own money to fund further work on the dossier.[11]
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.[12]
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.[13] The transcript was unilaterally released by Senator Dianne Feinstein on January 9, 2018.[14][15]
External videos | |
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Booknotes interview with Simpson on Dirty Little Secrets, June 30, 1996, C-SPAN | |
Interview with Simpson on Crime in Progress, December 11, 2019, C-SPAN |