FBI releases records of Justice Dept. official Bruce Ohr interviews about Russia probe

Washington Post logoHeavily redacted FBI memos released Thursday show that while the FBI formally cut ties with a former British intelligence officer who supplied some early information in the investigation of Russian election interference, agents quietly sought to reestablish contact as the case heated up.

The released documents are formal FBI interview memos of agents’ conversations with Bruce Ohr, a senior Justice Department official who has drawn the ire of President Trump for his connections to Christopher Steele, a former British spy with an expertise in Russia who wrote a dossier of allegations against Trump in 2016. The general thrust of Steele’s allegations was that then-candidate Trump was secretly aligned with Russian officials and could be manipulated by them.

Ohr, a relatively obscure Justice Department employee for more than 20 years, became a focus of Republicans in Congress after they learned of his interactions with Steele, and the Washington, D.C.-based research firm that hired Steele, Fusion GPS.

View the complete August 9, article by Devlin Barrett on The Washington Post website here.

Republicans ready to grill Bruce Ohr as Trump-DOJ feud escalates

The following article by Olivia Beaver was posted on the Hill website August 28, 2018:

Rep. Mark Meadows

House Republicans are sharpening their knives for an upcoming closed-door interview with Bruce Ohr, a Department of Justice (DOJ) official who has faced increasing attacks from President Trump and his allies over ties to the controversial “Steele dossier.”

Ohr, who has agreed to a voluntary interview with House investigators on Tuesday, is the latest target among Republicans who claim there is ample evidence of bias against Trump among the top brass at the DOJ and FBI during the 2016 presidential race.

Ohr has increasingly come under GOP scrutiny for his contacts with an opposition research firm and former British spy Christopher Steele, the driving forces behind the dossier containing a series of salacious allegations about Trump’s ties to Russia. Glenn Simpson, co-founder of opposition research firm Fusion GPS, hired Steele to help compile the dossier — which was bankrolled in part by Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign.

View the complete article here.

Trump says DOJ official should be fired over role in Russia probe

The following article by Jordan Fabian was posted on the Hill website August 20, 2018:

President Trump on Monday said Justice Department official Bruce Ohr should be fired for his involvement in the Russia investigation.

In a tweet calling for Ohr’s firing, Trump also took a swipe at Attorney General Jeff Sessions, suggesting he does not have the resolve to ax Ohr. Sessions has recused himself from the Russia probe.

“Will Bruce Ohr, whose family received big money for helping to create the phony, dirty and discredited Dossier, ever be fired from the Jeff Sessions  ‘Justice’ Department? A total joke!” Trump tweeted.

View the complete article here.

President Trump Says He Will Revoke Justice Department Official’s Security Clearance

President Donald Trump says he expects to “quickly” revoke the security clearance for the Justice Department official whose wife worked for the firm involved in producing the dossier on Trump’s ties to Russia.

Source:  Time.com