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.

Tom Homan Makes It Clear He’s All Business in Minneapolis: ‘I Didn’t Come … for Photo-Ops and Headlines’

Fox News ‘Antisemitism Exposed’ Newsletter: Walz shocks with misguided Holocaust comparison

Snowstorm could’ve sparked grid catastrophe if Biden climate policies weren’t reversed: Energy Dept

Trump Considering Major Strike on Iran After Latest Development in Nuclear Talks: Report

Ecuador complains to Trump admin, alleging ICE agent sought to enter Minneapolis consulate

Second elderly South Carolina woman dead from hypothermia in winter storm

Ellison brags to DNC activists how many times he has sued the Trump admin: ‘You can count on me’

Klobuchar launches Minnesota governor bid after Walz ends re-election run amid massive fraud scandal

Minnesota ICE protesters face few arrests despite continued unrest

How Democrats’ demands for judicial warrants in immigration enforcement would decimate deportation agenda

Illinois teen stabs pregnant woman 70 times, knifes dog, sets home ablaze during Facebook Marketplace meetup

Trump admin finds California ban on notifying parents of gender transitions violated federal law

Texas killer asks victims’ families for forgiveness before becoming first execution of 2026

Georgia assistant principal accused of stealing nearly $1K in Walmart merchandise at self-checkout

NJ councilwoman condemns ‘ignorance’ of comparing ICE agents to Nazis during heated meeting

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.