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.

Sen Jim Justice finds way through Senate polarization to bring WWII hero memorial to DC

Former USCIS official, accomplice charged in alleged $960K citizenship bribery scheme

Dramatic video captures floodwaters bursting through glass doors of college students’ home

Trump appears to debut darker hair, sparking online buzz

Breaking: Deadly Amazon Cargo Plane Crash at Miami Airport Leaves 5 Dead

Amy Acton campaign says armed individual lunged at Ohio governor candidate, injuring multiple people

Hasan Piker brushes off Dems who see him as a liability, names his ’28 choice

Stray bullet from nearby lounge fight kills Frito-Lay worker inside Sam’s Club

After ‘Lake America,’ Trump suggests a new name for the state of New Mexico

Amazon cargo plane overruns Miami airport runway, striking ‘multiple’ vehicles and catching fire

Trump admin’s mail-in ballot fight lands back at Supreme Court

Hikers stranded on Mount Shasta after relying on AI to plan trip, sheriff says

Sanders pushes ‘death penalty’ for crucial US industry that could give advantage to foreign adversaries

Missouri foster mom accused of trading teen for monkey avoids prison

Mamdani under fire after symbolic 9/11 pen goes to former al Qaeda defense lawyer

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.