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.

Transgender inmates separated from females at special needs women’s prison following sexual abuse claims

Six-year-old immigration court error haunts Kilmar Abrego Garcia case

Campbell Soup Exec in Hot Water After Alleged Meltdown on ‘F***ing Poor’ Customers and 3D Printed Meat, Which Campbell Denies Using

Federal Investigators Release More Information About Shocking UPS Plane Crash

What happens next after Comey and James cases dismissed?

Manhattan DA to retry Etan Patz’s killer after conviction in deadly 1979 kidnapping was overturned

Migrant teenagers charged in fatal stabbing of homeless man in Chicago

Muslim groups, other leaders demand Abbott rescind CAIR’s ‘terrorist’ designation: ‘Defamatory’

Rep. Swalwell sues Trump official over mortgage fraud allegations: ‘A gross abuse of power’

Roblox CEO calls child predator crisis an ‘opportunity’ amid ban of gamer who exposed groomers on platform

Miami woman allegedly slices boyfriend with machete after restaurant fight over infidelity

‘Zizian’ ringleader accuses Trump admin of transgender ‘genocide’ in courtroom tirade

DHS says four House Democrats ‘chose to stand with criminal illegal aliens’ after visiting ICE detainee

Navy sailor dies after rescuing 2 children from high surf in Hawaii waters

Parents/Grandparents Alert: Christmas AI Teddy Bears Can Teach Kids About Bondage Sex, How to Light Matches, Where to Find Knives, Pills, Plastic Bags

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.