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.

43-Year-Old College Freshman with Extensive Criminal Past Arrested for Alleged Dorm Sexual Assault

Alabama Police Department Calls Out Local Seniors for Weak Attempt at a Senior Prank: ‘That’s It?’

Trump commutes sentence for former Philadelphia union official, attorney says

Former Trump Cabinet official had ‘inappropriately close’ relationship with bodyguard, IG finds

Javier Milei escalates Falkland Islands feud after Trump questions UK backing

Susan Collins Gives Hilarious Answer to Whether She’ll Bring Up Troy Jackson’s ‘Personal Life’ in Maine Senate Race

Top DHS lawyer turns tables on 128 ex-judges after Bar declines ‘Worst of the Worst’ complaint

Lindsay Clancy jury enters Day 7 after bombshell one-juror standoff and more top headlines

Ted Cruz names ‘most powerful Democrat’ as he warns socialist rise has paralyzed bipartisanship

Blue state school district accused of defying Supreme Court, hiding gender transitions from parents

Coast Guard recovers 47 bales of suspected marijuana worth $2.4M after intercepting go-fast vessel

Trump administration proposes stripping tax-exempt status from schools using race-based programs

Karen Read’s lawyer says Clancy defense attorney may be ‘cut from a different cloth’ as deliberations drag on

US military took down approximately 100 suspected cartel drones at southern border in August

Lindsay Clancy jury wraps day 6 with bombshell one-juror standoff, deliberations to resume Friday

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.