from Your News:
New records show the FBI continued to rely on Stefan Halper as a paid source even after determining key allegations he made were false.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom
Newly declassified FBI documents reveal that longtime confidential human source Stefan Halper received nearly $1.2 million in payments from the FBI over three decades, including $70,000 during the pivotal months spanning the 2016 election and President Donald Trump’s inauguration. The records, disclosed to the House Judiciary Committee by FBI Director Kash Patel, were declassified at the direction of President Trump and paint a detailed picture of Halper’s central role in the discredited Crossfire Hurricane investigation.
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The documents, totaling nearly 700 pages and obtained by Just the News, show that Halper provided the FBI with claims about former Trump National Security Advisor Mike Flynn that the bureau itself later found to be “[not plausible] and not accurate.” Despite this, the FBI’s Validation Management Unit (VMU) recommended Halper remain an active informant. The bureau noted Halper’s unique access and stated he was involved in two sensitive operations related to Russia—one of which was redacted in the released files.
Halper’s claims included a fabricated account that Flynn had left a Cambridge University dinner in 2014 with Russian scholar Svetlana Lokhova while serving as head of the Defense Intelligence Agency. That allegation became part of the bureau’s justification to open a counterintelligence investigation into Flynn. The FBI memos show agents met with Halper several times to revisit the claim, only to find no corroborating evidence.
Despite its concerns, the FBI labeled Halper, code-named “Mitch,” a reliable source. A March 2017 memo stated Halper had “provided valuable information” and that “VMU assesses it is likely HALPER is suitable for continued operation.” Yet the same review admitted there was “no corroboration concerning MITCH’s reporting.”
Records show Halper was paid multiple installments during his involvement with Crossfire Hurricane, including $25,000 each in January and February 2017. A $5,000 payment in August 2016 was followed by two more for $15,000 and $25,000 that September. The FBI acknowledged these were for Halper’s time assisting in “operations against the subject of a sensitive investigation.”
The Department of Defense inspector general also confirmed Halper received more than $1 million from the Pentagon’s Office of Net Assessment for work between 2012 and 2016. The Pentagon, under Secretary Pete Hegseth, has since disestablished the office.
The Russia probe, launched as Crossfire Hurricane, included surveillance of Trump campaign figures like Carter Page, based on claims Halper helped generate. A recorded conversation between Page and Halper contradicted claims made in the Steele dossier, but the FISA court was never told of Page’s denials before authorizing year-long surveillance.
Despite recorded denials, the FBI wrote that Page had “not provided any specific details to refute” media allegations—a representation that declassified transcripts now show to be inaccurate. FBI attorney Kevin Clinesmith admitted to altering a CIA email to falsely indicate Page was not a source, a key misrepresentation in the FISA warrant process.
Halper was also linked to Peter Navarro, a senior Trump advisor. The declassified memos show Halper considered reaching out to Navarro in August 2016, calling him a personal friend and stating Navarro had approached him about joining the campaign. Navarro later said he felt “duped” by Halper’s covert role.
The story of Halper’s involvement was central to a lawsuit brought by Lokhova, who said she was falsely portrayed by Halper as having suspicious ties to Flynn. The case was dismissed and affirmed by the Fourth Circuit, though Flynn himself dismissed the entire incident as “ridiculous” during a 2018 interview with Special Counsel Mueller.
The broader Crossfire Hurricane investigation, meanwhile, has been widely condemned. A Justice Department inspector general report concluded that the FBI failed to comply with key guidelines for managing confidential human sources and cited the Steele dossier as a “central and essential” part of the flawed surveillance on Page. More recently, a special counsel report by John Durham found that “neither U.S. law enforcement nor the Intelligence Community” had any evidence of Trump-Russia collusion when the probe began.
