Page:Simpson-transcript-redacted.pdf/162

Glenn SimpsonPage 162 or had been compromised. And the whole problem of compromise of western businessmen and politicians by the Russians is an essential part of — it's like disinformation, it's something they worry about a lot and deal with a lot and are trained to respond to. So, you know, a trained intelligence officer can spot disinformation that you or I might not recognize, certainly that was Chris's skill, and he honed in on this issue of blackmail as being a significant national security issue.

Chris is the professional and I'm not. So I didn't agree with that — it wasn't that I disagreed with it. It was that I didn't feel qualified to be the arbitrar of whether this is a national security expert. He's the pro and I'm the ex-journalist.

Q. In that regard when you say he's a professional and you're not, I take that to mean that he was the intelligence expert?

A. He was — yes, he was the national security guy. I know a lot about politics, I know a good bit about financial crime, but, you know, my specialty was journalism and his was security.

Q. And with specific regard to the issue of blackmail, what was the — what were the facts that 1-800-FOR-DEPO