News Opinons Politics

Barr: ‘Very Unusual’ For FBI To Rely On Steele Dossier Given ‘Clear Mistakes’

Attorney General William Barr said in an interview that aired Friday that he is investigating what role the Steele dossier played in the Russia probe, and that the salacious document had “a number of clear mistakes.”

“It’s a very unusual situation to have opposition research like that, especially one that on its face had a number of clear mistakes and a somewhat jejune analysis,” Barr told Fox News’ Bill Hemmer.

“And to use that to conduct counterintelligence against an American political campaign is a strange  would be strange development.”


In the interview, Barr spoke at length about an inquiry he launched at the Justice Department into the origins of the Russia investigation. He told The Wall Street Journal in an interview that the investigation is also focusing on what information U.S. intelligence agencies gathered on Trump campaign associates before the FBI formally opened its investigation in July 2016.


Terence Stamp, 1938-2025
Turnstile’s soft-focus hardcore
Sydney Sweeney goes western in ‘Americana’
Federal judge blocks Florida from further expansion of ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ immigration detention facility
Erik Menendez denied parole by California board in Beverly Hills murder case
Trump administration wins Supreme Court fight to slash NIH medical research grants tied to DEI, LGBTQ studies
Doggett says he’ll forgo reelection bid for Texas House seat if new map enacted
Rubio pauses worker visas for truck drivers after deadly Florida crash involving illegal immigrant kills 3
Supreme Court allows Trump administration research funding cuts in anti-DEI effort
Colorado Parks and Wildlife ranger charged with staging fake stabbing incident that locked down schools
ICE chief vows to ‘flood’ Boston with agents after Dem mayor vows to resist
Fox News Politics Newsletter: Newsom’s ‘Failures’ Under Fire
Former top Adams advisor, donors charged in bribery case; Cuomo mocks with potato chip stunt
Newsom signs redistricting bills, takes fight over congressional map to voters
Breaking: Active Shooter Report Was ‘Cruel Hoax’ – Villanova President Shares Truth Behind Orientation Nightmare
See also  Duffy and Fox News’s Will Cain accept and complete ‘Pete & Bobby Challenge’

The FBI relied heavily on the Steele dossier, which was funded by the DNC and Clinton campaign, to obtain surveillance warrants against Carter Page, a Trump campaign adviser. But Republicans have accused the FBI of misleading the surveillance court by relying on the dossier given that its allegations were unverified.

Christopher Steele, a former British spy, claimed in the dossier that the Trump campaign was involved in a “well-developed conspiracy of co-operation” with the Russian government to influence the 2016 election. He alleged that Page and other Trump associates, like Paul Manafort and Michael Cohen, were at the center of the scheme.

But the special counsel’s report all but debunked the dossier’s central thesis, while dismissing one specific allegation about Cohen. The report said that prosecutors were unable to establish a conspiracy between the Trump team and Russia. It also said that Cohen did not visit Prague in August 2016, which is where the dossier claimed the former Trump lawyer went to pay off Russian hackers.

Steele and his client, Fusion GPS, shopped the dossier around to numerous journalists. Steele also provided memos from his dossier to the FBI and State Department.

Barr told Hemmer that the answers he has received so far about the origins of the investigations “aren’t sufficient.” He is reportedly working with the directors of the CIA, FBI and Office of National Intelligence on the inquiry.

See also  DeSantis targets census ‘fix’ to boost GOP House seat count in Florida

Terence Stamp, 1938-2025
Turnstile’s soft-focus hardcore
Sydney Sweeney goes western in ‘Americana’
Federal judge blocks Florida from further expansion of ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ immigration detention facility
Erik Menendez denied parole by California board in Beverly Hills murder case
Trump administration wins Supreme Court fight to slash NIH medical research grants tied to DEI, LGBTQ studies
Doggett says he’ll forgo reelection bid for Texas House seat if new map enacted
Rubio pauses worker visas for truck drivers after deadly Florida crash involving illegal immigrant kills 3
Supreme Court allows Trump administration research funding cuts in anti-DEI effort
Colorado Parks and Wildlife ranger charged with staging fake stabbing incident that locked down schools
ICE chief vows to ‘flood’ Boston with agents after Dem mayor vows to resist
Fox News Politics Newsletter: Newsom’s ‘Failures’ Under Fire
Former top Adams advisor, donors charged in bribery case; Cuomo mocks with potato chip stunt
Newsom signs redistricting bills, takes fight over congressional map to voters
Breaking: Active Shooter Report Was ‘Cruel Hoax’ – Villanova President Shares Truth Behind Orientation Nightmare

The Justice Department’s inspector general is also investigating the dossier’s role in the Russia investigation, as well as the FBI’s surveillance efforts against the Trump campaign.

Story cited here.

Share this article:
Share on Facebook
Facebook
Tweet about this on Twitter
Twitter