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Thread: Ohr Warned FBI/DoJ that Steele Dossier was "political" and "likely biased"

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    Default Ohr Warned FBI/DoJ that Steele Dossier was "political" and "likely biased"

    he then-No. 4 Department of Justice (DOJ) official briefed both senior FBI and DOJ officials in summer 2016 about Christopher Steele’s Russia dossier, explicitly cautioning that the British intelligence operative’s work was opposition research connected to Hillary Clinton’s campaign and might be biased.

    Ohr’s briefings, in July and August 2016, included the deputy director of the FBI, a top lawyer for then-Attorney General Loretta Lynch and a Justice official who later would become the top deputy to special counsel Robert Mueller.

    At the time, Ohr was the associate attorney general. Yet his warnings about political bias were pointedly omitted weeks later from the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) warrant that the FBI obtained from a federal court, granting it permission to spy on whether the Trump campaign was colluding with Russia to hijack the 2016 presidential election.

    Ohr’s activities, chronicled in handwritten notes and congressional testimony I gleaned from sources, provide the most damning evidence to date that FBI and DOJ officials misled federal judges in October 2016 in their zeal to obtain the warrant targeting Trump adviser Carter Page just weeks before Election Day.

    They also contradict a key argument that House Democrats have made in their formal intelligence conclusions about the Russia case.

    Since it was disclosed last year that Steele’s dossier formed a central piece of evidence supporting the FISA warrant, Justice and FBI officials have been vague about exactly when they learned that Steele’s work was paid for by the law firm representing the Clinton campaign and the Democratic National Committee (DNC).

    A redacted version of the FISA application released last year shows the FBI did not mention any connection to the DNC or Clinton. Rather, it referred to Steele as a reliable source in past criminal investigations who was hired by a person working for a U.S. law firm to conduct research on Trump and Russia.

    The FBI claimed it was “unaware of any derogatory information” about Steele, that Steele was “never advised … as to the motivation behind the research” but that the FBI “speculates” that those who hired Steele were “likely looking for information to discredit” Trump’s campaign.

    Yet, in testimony last summer to congressional investigators, Ohr revealed the FBI and Justice lawyers had no need to speculate: He explicitly warned them in a series of contacts, beginning July 31, 2016, that Steele expressed biased against Trump and was working on a project connected to the Clinton campaign.

    Ohr had firsthand knowledge about the motive and the client: He had just met with Steele on July 30, 2016, and Ohr’s wife, Nellie, worked for Fusion GPS, the same firm employing Steele.

    “I certainly told the FBI that Fusion GPS was working with, doing opposition research on Donald Trump,” Ohr told congressional investigators, adding that he warned the FBI that Steele expressed bias during their conversations.

    “I provided information to the FBI when I thought Christopher Steele was, as I said, desperate that Trump not be elected,” he added. “So, yes, of course I provided that to the FBI.”

    When pressed why he would offer that information to the FBI, Ohr answered: “In case there might be any kind of bias or anything like that.” He added later, “So when I provided it to the FBI, I tried to be clear that this is source information, I don’t know how reliable it is. You’re going to have to check it out and be aware.”

    Ohr went further, saying he disclosed to FBI agents that his wife and Steele were working for the same firm and that it was conducting the Trump-Russia research project at the behest of Trump’s Democratic rival, the Clinton campaign.

    “These guys were hired by somebody relating to, who’s related to the Clinton campaign and be aware,”
    Ohr told Congress, explaining what he warned the bureau.

    Perkins Coie, the law firm that represented both the DNC and the Clinton campaign during the 2016 election, belatedly admitted it paid Fusion GPS for Steele’s work on behalf of the candidate and party and disguised the payments as legal bills when, in fact, it was opposition research.

    When asked if he knew of any connection between the Steele dossier and the DNC,
    Ohr responded that he believed the project was really connected to the Clinton campaign
    .

    “I didn’t know they were employed by the DNC but I certainly said yes that they were working for, you know, they were somehow working, associated with the Clinton campaign,” he answered.

    “I also told the FBI that my wife worked for Fusion GPS or was a contractor for GPS, Fusion GPS.”

    Ohr divulged his first contact with the FBI was on July 31, 2016, when he reached out to then-Deputy Director Andrew McCabe and FBI attorney Lisa Page. He then was referred to the agents working Russia counterintelligence, including Peter Strzok, the now-fired agent who played a central role in starting the Trump collusion probe.

    But Ohr’s contacts about the Steele dossier weren’t limited to the FBI. He said in August 2016 — nearly two months before the FISA warrant was issued — that he was asked to conduct a briefing for senior Justice officials.

    Those he briefed included Andrew Weissmann, then the head of DOJ’s fraud section; Bruce Swartz, longtime head of DOJ’s international operations, and
    Zainab Ahmad, an accomplished terrorism prosecutor who, at the time, was assigned to work with Lynch as a senior counselor.

    Ahmad and Weissmann would go on to work for Mueller, the special prosecutor overseeing the Russia probe.

    Ohr’s extensive testimony also undercuts one argument that House Democrats sought to make last year.

    When Republicans, in early 2018, first questioned Ohr’s connections to Steele, Democrats on the House Intelligence Committee sought to minimize the connection, insisting he only worked as an informer for the FBI after Steele was fired by the FBI in November 2016.

    The memo from Rep. Adam Schiff’s (D-Calif.) team claimed that Ohr’s contacts with the FBI only began “weeks after the election and more than a month after the Court approved the initial FISA application.”

    But Ohr’s testimony now debunks that claim, making clear he started talking to FBI and DOJ officials well before the FISA warrant or election had occurred.

    And his detailed answers provide a damning rebuttal to the FBI’s portrayal of the Steele material.

    In fact, the FBI did have derogatory information on Steele: Ohr explicitly told the FBI that Steele was desperate to defeat the man he was investigating and was biased.

    And the FBI knew the motive of the client and did not have to speculate: Ohr told agents the Democratic nominee’s campaign was connected to the research designed to harm Trump’s election chances.

    Such omissions are, by definition, an abuse of the FISA system.

    Don’t take my word for it. Fired FBI Director James Comey acknowledged it himself when he testified last month that the FISA court relies on an honor system, in which the FBI is expected to divulge exculpatory evidence to the judges.

    “We certainly consider it our obligation, because of our trust relationship with federal judges, to present evidence that would paint a materially different picture of what we're presenting,” Comey testified on Dec. 7, 2018. “You want to present to the judge reviewing your application a complete picture of the evidence, both its flaws and its strengths.”

    Comey claims he didn't know about Ohr's contacts with Steele, even though his top deputy, McCabe, got the first contact.

    But none of that absolves his FBI, or the DOJ for that matter, from failing to divulge essential and exculpatory information from Ohr to the FISA court
    https://thehill.com/opinion/white-ho...ted-to-clinton

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    biased liars who omitted the fact FISA was political biased and uncorroborated.
    More Deep State creeps shenanigans ..

    Ahmad and Weissmann would go on to work for Mueller, the special prosecutor overseeing the Russia probe
    as well.
    Mueller is a politically driven "investigation"

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    Quote Originally Posted by evince View Post
    no one listens to you anymore stupid fucking Russian bot hole
    awesome desh.continue to stick your head in the sand and yell about Putin when here is a soft coup in action in the USA

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    Quote Originally Posted by anatta View Post
    biased liars who omitted the fact FISA was political biased and uncorroborated.
    More Deep State creeps shenanigans ..

    as well.
    Mueller is a politically driven "investigation"
    You are full of shit. You know nothing of this investigation other than to shield trump regardless of what crimes he may have committed.

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    Quote Originally Posted by floridafan View Post
    You are full of shit. You know nothing of this investigation other than to shield trump regardless of what crimes he may have committed.
    you are a blithering idiot.
    This is about the GENESIS of Mueller thru Weissman and Ahmad, and the fact the FBI creeps
    were specifically warned Steele was a political and biased document.

    Just once try to post something of relevance..surprise me.

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    Quote Originally Posted by anatta View Post
    you are a blithering idiot.
    This is about the GENESIS of Mueller thru Weissman and Ahmad, and the fact the FBI creeps
    were specifically warned Steele was a political and biased document.

    Just once try to post something of relevance..surprise me.
    You have yet to find any errors in this document, which by now is totally meaningless. The investigation is well under way and nothing will change that.

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    Quote Originally Posted by anatta View Post
    you are a blithering idiot.
    This is about the GENESIS of Mueller thru Weissman and Ahmad, and the fact the FBI creeps
    were specifically warned Steele was a political and biased document.

    Just once try to post something of relevance..surprise me.
    But, you rarely insult...

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    Quote Originally Posted by floridafan View Post
    You have yet to find any errors in this document, which by now is totally meaningless. The investigation is well under way and nothing will change that.
    Willfully a dumb cunt.
    "When government fears the people, there is liberty. When the people fear the government, there is tyranny."


    A lie doesn't become the truth, wrong doesn't become right, and evil doesn't become good just because it is accepted by a majority.
    Author: Booker T. Washington



    Quote Originally Posted by Nomad View Post
    Unless you just can't stand the idea of "ni**ers" teaching white kids.


    Quote Originally Posted by AProudLefty View Post
    Address the topic, not other posters.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Phantasmal View Post
    But, you rarely insult...
    You rarely whine about it when your fellow leftist assholes do it; STFU you dishonest, hypocritical twat.
    "When government fears the people, there is liberty. When the people fear the government, there is tyranny."


    A lie doesn't become the truth, wrong doesn't become right, and evil doesn't become good just because it is accepted by a majority.
    Author: Booker T. Washington



    Quote Originally Posted by Nomad View Post
    Unless you just can't stand the idea of "ni**ers" teaching white kids.


    Quote Originally Posted by AProudLefty View Post
    Address the topic, not other posters.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Truth Detector View Post
    Willfully a dumb cunt.
    I am glad that you agree, nothing in this document has yet been proven incorrect. Thats a fact you cannot deny.

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    This means Adam Schiff lied

    The lid is going to pop off of this thing

    Mueller was not hired to indict Trump. He was hired to hide the broken laws by Comey, Brennan, Clapper, Obama and Clinton

    I hope Barr cleans this shit up.

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    Quote Originally Posted by anatta View Post
    awesome desh.continue to stick your head in the sand and yell about Putin when here is a soft coup in action in the USA
    oh fuck you there is no coup you Putin prostitute


    there will be a peaceful transition of power like the founders planned and then we will secure our elections frm your dumb ass putin tamperings


    then we will crush Fox and the NRA


    and lay the republican party in its self made grave


    You lost

    Democracy is too powerful for you Siberian shit sack

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    Quote Originally Posted by anatta View Post
    he then-No. 4 Department of Justice (DOJ) official briefed both senior FBI and DOJ officials in summer 2016 about Christopher Steele’s Russia dossier, explicitly cautioning that the British intelligence operative’s work was opposition research connected to Hillary Clinton’s campaign and might be biased.

    Ohr’s briefings, in July and August 2016, included the deputy director of the FBI, a top lawyer for then-Attorney General Loretta Lynch and a Justice official who later would become the top deputy to special counsel Robert Mueller.

    At the time, Ohr was the associate attorney general. Yet his warnings about political bias were pointedly omitted weeks later from the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) warrant that the FBI obtained from a federal court, granting it permission to spy on whether the Trump campaign was colluding with Russia to hijack the 2016 presidential election.

    Ohr’s activities, chronicled in handwritten notes and congressional testimony I gleaned from sources, provide the most damning evidence to date that FBI and DOJ officials misled federal judges in October 2016 in their zeal to obtain the warrant targeting Trump adviser Carter Page just weeks before Election Day.

    They also contradict a key argument that House Democrats have made in their formal intelligence conclusions about the Russia case.

    Since it was disclosed last year that Steele’s dossier formed a central piece of evidence supporting the FISA warrant, Justice and FBI officials have been vague about exactly when they learned that Steele’s work was paid for by the law firm representing the Clinton campaign and the Democratic National Committee (DNC).

    A redacted version of the FISA application released last year shows the FBI did not mention any connection to the DNC or Clinton. Rather, it referred to Steele as a reliable source in past criminal investigations who was hired by a person working for a U.S. law firm to conduct research on Trump and Russia.

    The FBI claimed it was “unaware of any derogatory information” about Steele, that Steele was “never advised … as to the motivation behind the research” but that the FBI “speculates” that those who hired Steele were “likely looking for information to discredit” Trump’s campaign.

    Yet, in testimony last summer to congressional investigators, Ohr revealed the FBI and Justice lawyers had no need to speculate: He explicitly warned them in a series of contacts, beginning July 31, 2016, that Steele expressed biased against Trump and was working on a project connected to the Clinton campaign.

    Ohr had firsthand knowledge about the motive and the client: He had just met with Steele on July 30, 2016, and Ohr’s wife, Nellie, worked for Fusion GPS, the same firm employing Steele.

    “I certainly told the FBI that Fusion GPS was working with, doing opposition research on Donald Trump,” Ohr told congressional investigators, adding that he warned the FBI that Steele expressed bias during their conversations.

    “I provided information to the FBI when I thought Christopher Steele was, as I said, desperate that Trump not be elected,” he added. “So, yes, of course I provided that to the FBI.”

    When pressed why he would offer that information to the FBI, Ohr answered: “In case there might be any kind of bias or anything like that.” He added later, “So when I provided it to the FBI, I tried to be clear that this is source information, I don’t know how reliable it is. You’re going to have to check it out and be aware.”

    Ohr went further, saying he disclosed to FBI agents that his wife and Steele were working for the same firm and that it was conducting the Trump-Russia research project at the behest of Trump’s Democratic rival, the Clinton campaign.

    Ohr told Congress, explaining what he warned the bureau.

    Perkins Coie, the law firm that represented both the DNC and the Clinton campaign during the 2016 election, belatedly admitted it paid Fusion GPS for Steele’s work on behalf of the candidate and party and disguised the payments as legal bills when, in fact, it was opposition research.

    When asked if he knew of any connection between the Steele dossier and the DNC,
    Ohr responded that he believed the project was really connected to the Clinton campaign
    .

    “I didn’t know they were employed by the DNC but I certainly said yes that they were working for, you know, they were somehow working, associated with the Clinton campaign,” he answered.

    “I also told the FBI that my wife worked for Fusion GPS or was a contractor for GPS, Fusion GPS.”

    Ohr divulged his first contact with the FBI was on July 31, 2016, when he reached out to then-Deputy Director Andrew McCabe and FBI attorney Lisa Page. He then was referred to the agents working Russia counterintelligence, including Peter Strzok, the now-fired agent who played a central role in starting the Trump collusion probe.

    But Ohr’s contacts about the Steele dossier weren’t limited to the FBI. He said in August 2016 — nearly two months before the FISA warrant was issued — that he was asked to conduct a briefing for senior Justice officials.

    Those he briefed included Andrew Weissmann, then the head of DOJ’s fraud section; Bruce Swartz, longtime head of DOJ’s international operations, and
    Zainab Ahmad, an accomplished terrorism prosecutor who, at the time, was assigned to work with Lynch as a senior counselor.

    Ahmad and Weissmann would go on to work for Mueller, the special prosecutor overseeing the Russia probe.

    Ohr’s extensive testimony also undercuts one argument that House Democrats sought to make last year.

    When Republicans, in early 2018, first questioned Ohr’s connections to Steele, Democrats on the House Intelligence Committee sought to minimize the connection, insisting he only worked as an informer for the FBI after Steele was fired by the FBI in November 2016.

    The memo from Rep. Adam Schiff’s (D-Calif.) team claimed that Ohr’s contacts with the FBI only began “weeks after the election and more than a month after the Court approved the initial FISA application.”

    But Ohr’s testimony now debunks that claim, making clear he started talking to FBI and DOJ officials well before the FISA warrant or election had occurred.

    And his detailed answers provide a damning rebuttal to the FBI’s portrayal of the Steele material.

    In fact, the FBI did have derogatory information on Steele: Ohr explicitly told the FBI that Steele was desperate to defeat the man he was investigating and was biased.

    And the FBI knew the motive of the client and did not have to speculate: Ohr told agents the Democratic nominee’s campaign was connected to the research designed to harm Trump’s election chances.

    Such omissions are, by definition, an abuse of the FISA system.

    Don’t take my word for it. Fired FBI Director James Comey acknowledged it himself when he testified last month that the FISA court relies on an honor system, in which the FBI is expected to divulge exculpatory evidence to the judges.

    “We certainly consider it our obligation, because of our trust relationship with federal judges, to present evidence that would paint a materially different picture of what we're presenting,” Comey testified on Dec. 7, 2018. “You want to present to the judge reviewing your application a complete picture of the evidence, both its flaws and its strengths.”

    Comey claims he didn't know about Ohr's contacts with Steele, even though his top deputy, McCabe, got the first contact.

    But none of that absolves his FBI, or the DOJ for that matter, from failing to divulge essential and exculpatory information from Ohr to the FISA court
    https://thehill.com/opinion/white-ho...ted-to-clinton
    None of which actually confirms that it was biased or that the FISA warrant was improperly granted.

    Your desperation tastes like caramel!

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