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.

Crashed Learjet Audio Recorded Months Ago Captured Exasperated ATC Ordering Male, Female Pilots to Correct Flight Maneuver

After Feigning Concern About Affordability for Months, Top Dem Reveals It’s All Just About Lawfare Now That They Control Congress: ‘LAWYER UP’

From Texas to Kansas, 6 stunning midterm results that upended the political map

Meet the far-left socialists coming to Congress next year

Former Republican Kevin Kiley loses to Richard Pan in California’s 6th District

Nawrocki urgently seeking US troops in Poland amid high court ‘coup d’etat’ supported by EU

El-Sayed mocks Trump, Vance and Rogers in gloating victory speech signaling combative tone in Senate

Dem AG pulls off upset of sitting Republican governor after blistering campaign in key swing state

Abdul el Sayed defeats Mike Rogers in Michigan race, poised to become first Muslim senator

Thune plans to run for Republican minority leader after Dem’s midterm takeover

Abdul El-Sayed delivers major blow to GOP in Michigan after bruising Senate race

Breaking: Democrats Flip Senate Seat in State Trump Won by Double Digits

Mamdani-Backed Democratic Socialist Wins House Seat

Democrats Win Texas Governor’s Race for First Time in 30 Years as Gina Hinojosa Defeats Greg Abbott

Breaking: Democrats Deal Massive Blow to Republicans, Win Control of the Senate

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.