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.

Breaking: Truck Plows Through Youth Soccer Game in ‘Mass Casualty Incident,’ One Child Among Deceased

ICYMI: Omar Corruption Concerns Are Bipartisan – The Biden Admin Investigated Her First

Bombshell Video Catches Reported Insiders Admitting Somalis Are Paying For, Harvesting Omar Votes

Obama Presidential Hits Jaw-Dropping Total Cost of Over $1 Billion, Tripling Past Estimates

Man shot and killed inside New York City subway station in Midtown Manhattan: NYPD

California diners are cutting back as costs soar — but restaurant owner reveals one trend that’s booming

Watch: Stunt Chopper at Navy SEAL Fundraiser Thrills Guests With Small Explosions and Red, White and Blue Smoke Show

Hero Dad Who Stopped Oregon School Shooting Doesn’t Want an Award, Tragically Feels Guilt Over Not Saving More

‘Moderate’ AG’s office turned to groups that spent years suing prisons for recruiting help: emails reveal

A Symbolic Detail Hidden in Background of Netflix’s New ‘Narnia’ Trailer Has Fans Fearing the Worst

Alito Shuts Down Retirement Talks as Midterms Threaten GOP Path to Confirm Successor

Pope Leo XIV leaves hospital and returns to Vatican after lung cancer surgery

From handyman to House history: HVAC mogul Joe Strada pushes trade schools, business mindset in Florida race

They’ll Never Learn: As Crime Sprees Plague Seattle, It’s Socialist Mayor Introduces Soft-on-Crime ‘Connection Court’

Ilhan Omar should be jailed, deported if citizenship fraud proven, Top House Republican says

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.