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.

Former SLED investigator who testified at Alex Murdaugh trial fired from Charleston County Sheriff’s Office

Brooklyn coffee shop that targeted Jewish congressman faces DOJ probe after reported tax, health code issues

Nearby Residents Told to Stay Inside as Semi Carrying Millions of Bees Overturns

Senate Schedule Rearranged as Mitch McConnell Is Set to Miss Another Full Week of Voting

Republicans break with Trump to rebuke Iran war — but it won’t change policy

DHS demands New York sanctuary politicians honor detainer for man convicted of raping corpse on subway

Marjorie Taylor Greene follows Tucker Carlson in ditching the ‘America Last’ Republican Party

Iranian leaders project newfound confidence with international travel spree

Top Republican pitches Trump plan to stop shutdowns, expose ‘bad guys’ blocking voter ID law

Cruz says Mamdani, AOC, Platner show Democrats’ leftward shift: ‘That’s where the energy is’

Social media erupts over Mamdani’s silence after Brooklyn coffee shop bans Jewish congressman

MLB Issues Unexpected Response on Players With Bible Verses on Uniforms, Says They Will Never Be Fined

Air traffic control audio captures tense moment two planes nearly collided at Boston Logan Airport

Foreign Born Biden Judge Named ‘Sparkle’ Strikes Down Trump Database to Purge Illegal Voters Because It Purges Voters

Swalwell pal accused of using campaign cash to bankroll ‘luxury lifestyle’ — including Super Bowl tickets

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 Alan Greenspan dies at age 100