Democrats say it's important that Simpson told Judiciary Committee investigators that he did not instruct Steele to dig up dirt on Trump or find ways to embarrass him. In fact, Steele was so shocked by what he learned from his sources that he felt obliged to report it to the FBI, Simpson says.

Steele felt like a person driving to work who sees an accident and feels compelled to call 911, Simpson said.

That's why Democrats finally released to the public the transcript of the Fusion GPS testimony to Congress; and why Republicans sought desperately to repress the transcript and spin the contents. Now we can read it ourselves and see for ourselves how duplicitous the Republicans have been about the whole Russia affair.

How The Fusion GPS Founder's Testimony Fits In The Russia Saga : NPR

Some Republicans critical of Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s probe into possible collusion between the Trump campaign and Russian officials have claimed the initial FBI probe was triggered by Steele’s dossier.

They have raised questions about whether the FBI may have relied on the Steele document to improperly obtain surveillance warrants to spy on Trump’s campaign associates.

Simpson’s testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee in August contradicted those claims.

“They had other intelligence about this matter from an internal Trump campaign source and ... they believed Chris’ information might be credible,” Simpson testified. “I think it was a voluntary source, someone who was concerned about the same concerns we had.”

Fusion GPS founder testified Trump associate went to FBI over Russia concerns | Reuters