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.

ICE accuses Dem lawmaker of joining ‘rioting crowd’ in Arizona, interfering in mass arrest

Trump rips Indiana GOP leader over redistricting fight, warns Republicans could face ‘MAGA primary’

Ukrainian woman charged over Russian-backed cyberattacks; $10M reward offered for others

Walz urges Noem to ‘reassess’ immigration enforcement strategy in Minnesota after alleged citizen arrests

Obama surprises Chicago students in Santa hat for holiday library storytime reading session

Activist group hits federal judge with judicial misconduct complaint for attending Trump rally

Elite College Football Program Rocked, Head Coach Fired in Salacious Scandal

Former music teacher allegedly groomed and had inappropriate relationship with teen student

Democrat Notches Party’s First Win in Decades in Major Red State Mayor’s Race

Multiple Suspects Arrested After 7 Students Overdose at a Single College Party

Microsoft Announces $17.5 Billion Investment in India After Laying Off Thousands of Americans in 2025

Charity Group Begs Trump for a ‘Christmas Miracle’ After USPS Rejects Hundreds of Care Packages Meant for Overseas Troops

Watch: Trump Drives a Stake Through the Heart of Fake News That He’s Ticked at Hegseth and Noem

Moderate Republicans buck leadership with bid to force vote on Obamacare subsidies as premium cliff looms

Burgum calls California a ‘national security risk’ as Energy chief warns blue states are skewing cost averages

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.