Podesta, Wasserman Schultz told Senate Intel they didn’t know of dossier funding: report

Hillary Clinton’s former campaign manager and the former chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee (DNC) privately denied to congressional investigators that they knew about funding for a dossier containing scandalous allegations about President Trump, CNN reported Thursday. 

John Podesta, the former campaign manager, and Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.) each said in separate closed-door interviews with the Senate Intelligence Committee that they did not know who funded an opposition dossier on Trump. Podesta’s attorney also sat in on the interview, according to CNN.

The Washington Post reported Tuesday that Clinton’s campaign and the DNC paid millions to the law firm Perkins Coie, which then worked with opposition research firm Fusion GPS to construct a dossier containing material about Trump, including possible connections with Russia.{mosads}

The interviews took place before it was disclosed that Clinton’s campaign and the DNC had paid for the research. It is against the law to make false statements to Congress.

Wasserman Schultz said through a spokesman on Wednesday that she was not aware of anything related to the dossier.

Current DNC Chairman Tom Perez, who was not with the organization at the time the document was funded and compiled, said he learned about the dossier “a few days ago.”

The White House has used the news that the Clinton campaign paid for the dossier to question the credibility of the federal probe into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.

Democrats, meanwhile, have downplayed the news, saying candidates frequently conduct research on their opponents.