Crooked Clinton Lawyer Who Paid for Steele Dossier Opens New Firm ‘Because Our Democracy Is at Risk'

Voting rights lawyer Marc Elias, who has a long history of representing the Democratic National Committee and Democratic candidates like Joe Biden and Hillary Clinton, has left the controversial Perkins Coie law firm.

Why is this so significant? Marc Elias and the firm Perkins Coie, you may recall, had a key role in the creation of the infamous Steel dossier. In fact, it was Elias who retained Fusion GPS to conduct the research that was ultimately used by Christopher Steele to generate the bogus document. “Elias and his law firm, Perkins Coie, retained [Fusion GPS] in April 2016 on behalf of the Clinton campaign and the DNC,” the Washington Post reported back in 2017. Elias’s connection to the attempted cover-up of the dossier’s funding makes the news of his departure more interesting because he’s opening up his own firm, the Elias Law Group, because, Elias says, “our democracy is at risk and it is the most effective way for me to fight back.”

I spent 28 years at @PerkinsCoieLLP. It is a amazing place with great lawyers. I am starting a new law firm @EliasLawGroup because our democracy is at risk and it is the most effective way for me to fight back. I look forward to working with Perkins in that effort as well.

— Marc E. Elias (@marceelias) August 22, 2021

That’s cute, considering his role in the Steele dossier, which was used in the FISA application to spy on the Trump campaign.

“The formation of Elias Law Group will allow us to more fully engage in representing our clients in the political process at this unique moment in history,” said Elias. “I look forward to continuing to work with Perkins Coie and want to thank the firm and its leadership for understanding and supporting us for the past decades and in this next step in our evolution.”

Constitutional attorney Jonathan Turley has been an outspoken critic of Elias, who has so far managed to avoid any serious scrutiny for his shady history.

“Elias’ controversial role on the alleged cover up of the dossier funding has not deterred Democratic donors who funded an Elias group called Democracy Docket,” writes Turley. “Indeed, even though many law professors and experts called for disbarments and ethical investigations of Trump lawyers for misleading or false statements, there has not been a call for even a simple inquiry into whether Elias misled Congress, the media, or others by these same academics and experts. Likewise, these allegations have had little follow up by the media despite Elias’ continued work for Democratic causes and candidates.”

“Neither the firm nor Elias have faced any charge of wrongdoing or ethical violations in this or related matters in the Russian investigation,” Turley continued. “Indeed, there may not have been a basis for such charges. We only have allegations because there has been no interest in any serious inquiry in Washington.” Turley also noted that the statute of limitations may be a “barrier” to Elias ever being investigated for lying to Congress.

But there’s still the Durham report. “It is not known if Durham has questioned Elias or whether the denial of funding of the dossier will feature into his investigation on the dossier,” explains Turley. “The question is now whether we will now learn the full story of the role played by Elias and Perkins Coie in the starting of the Russian investigation. That role could be detailed in a report by Durham though it is not clear if the establishment will allow that report to see the light of day.”