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.

GSA finds China-made tech labeled ‘Made in USA’ in federal procurement program, orders sweeping review

Darline Graham Nordone nabs Senate runoff endorsement from ex-primary rival Russell Fry

Danish PM calls migrants with ‘Islamic background’ the greatest threat as Europe braces for second migrant wave

‘Raw material for election fraud’: Expert flags voter-roll problems far beyond one state

Breaking: Luigi Mangione Confesses to Assassinating Health Care CEO, Pleads Guilty to Murder

Female Suspect in WWII Memorial Defacement Arrested, Jeanine Pirro Announces Felony Charges

Cuban ties put powerful US union under microscope over alleged communist influence push

This 2002 Sports Comedy Predicted the WNBA’s Trans Predicament, But Real Life is Even Funnier: Spoilers

WWII Memorial vandalism suspect now in custody, to be charged with two felonies, Pirro announces

WNBA Suddenly Needs Time to Evaluate Men Competing, But the League Wasn’t Confused in This Resurfaced Post

American missionary Kevin Rideout released after more than 9 months in captivity in Niger

Deadly Connecticut home invasion suspect texted ‘I’ll make her life hell’ before attack: report

‘House’ Star Hugh Laurie Blasted by Left After Standing with Sophie Cunningham and Her Fight to Keep Men Out of Women’s Sports

No Death Penalty: Tyler Robinson’s Attorneys Launch Plan to Keep Charlie Kirk’s Accused Murderer Off Death Row – and It Could Work

Nigel Farage beats Count Binface to stay as Clacton-on-Sea’s member of Parliament

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.