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.

Watch: JD Vance Explains How Iran Deal Is ‘Fundamentally’ Different Than Obama’s JCPOA

NC School Pays Dearly After Admin Wildly Bullied Student Who Wrote Sweet Message About Charlie Kirk

FBI thwarts explosive drone attack against UFC Freedom 250 fight

Trump says he had a ‘very good meeting’ with Zelensky at G7

Pentagon files reveal agents’ reports of ‘orbs launching orbs’ near sensitive US security site

FBI disrupts alleged explosive-drone plot targeting White House UFC event, officials say

Multiple Sources Confirm GOP Senator Attempted IVF Expansion During NDAA Talks

Trump Comes Out Against FISA ‘If it Doesn’t Come with the Save America Act,’ Complicating Congressional Showdown

Is AI Making Us Dumb?

Trump admin puts alleged ‘birth tourism’ scheme on notice as expert delivers warning to hospitals

Teen accused of killing stepsister on Carnival cruise ship ordered detained before murder trial

Robert De Niro Says He Can’t Love America While ‘Xenophobic Tyrant’ Trump is President

Breaking: Gavin Newsom and His Wife Are Reportedly Under DOJ Investigation

ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith Calls Trump an ‘Upgrade’ Over Biden – Days After Blaming Him for an NBA Loss

Three more alleged antifa cell members indicted on terrorism charges over Texas ICE attack

See also Trump arrives for UFC fight

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.