jimnyc
01-05-2018, 04:02 PM
Time to move forward. :)
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GOP senators request criminal investigation of Trump dossier author
Two Republican senators are asking the Department of Justice to open a criminal investigation into Christopher Steele, the author of a controversial opposition research dossier on President Trump.
Sens. Chuck Grassley (Iowa) and Lindsey Graham (S.C.) sent a letter to Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein and FBI Director Christopher Wray asking that they investigate if the former British intelligence agent lied to federal authorities.
"I don’t take lightly making a referral for criminal investigation. But, as I would with any credible evidence of a crime unearthed in the course of our investigations, I feel obliged to pass that information along to the Justice Department for appropriate review,” Grassley said in a statement.
Graham added that "after reviewing how Mr. Steele conducted himself in distributing information contained in the dossier and how many stop signs the DOJ ignored in its use of the dossier, I believe that a special counsel needs to review this matter."
The letter is the first known criminal referral from any of the congressional investigations into Russia's election interference.
As part of their request, the two senators passed along a memo tied to "certain communications between Christopher Steele and multiple U.S. news outlets." They did not publicly release the memorandum, which is classified.
The referral is the latest sign of partisan splintering of the Judiciary Committee's wide-ranging investigation into Russia, the 2016 election and potential political interference of the FBI.
Sen. Dianne Feinstein (Calif.), the top Democrat on the panel, blasted the letter as the latest attempt by GOP lawmakers to turn the committee's focus away from Trump.
"I think this referral is unfortunate as it’s clearly another effort to deflect attention from what should be the committee’s top priority: determining whether there was collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia to influence the election and whether there was subsequent obstruction of justice," she said.
Rest - http://thehill.com/blogs/floor-action/senate/367631-gop-senators-request-criminal-investigation-of-trump-dossier-author
GOP Senators Ask Justice Department for Criminal Probe of Trump Dossier Author
-An innocent explanation ‘seems unlikely,’ Grassley says
-Dossier by former spy Christopher Steele is Republican focus
Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley asked the Justice Department Friday to investigate whether the author of a salacious dossier on Donald Trump made false statements to federal investigators.
Grassley and fellow Republican Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina took the unusual step of asking Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein to investigate the report’s author, former British spy Christopher Steele.
“As I would with any credible evidence of a crime unearthed in the course of our investigations, I feel obliged to pass that information along to the Justice Department for appropriate review,” Grassley said. “Maybe there is some innocent explanation for the inconsistencies we have seen, but it seems unlikely. In any event, it’s up to the Justice Department to figure that out.”
Graham said that he wants a special counsel to review how Steele conducted himself in distributing information contained in the dossier and how the Justice Department used it. The senators’ concerns in this case center around Steele’s answers about the distribution of details from the dossier.
"The rule of law depends on the government and all who work on its behalf playing by the rules themselves. I hope the Department of Justice will carefully review our letter and take appropriate action,” Graham said.
Rest - https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-01-05/grassley-asks-justice-for-criminal-probe-of-trump-dossier-author
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GOP senators request criminal investigation of Trump dossier author
Two Republican senators are asking the Department of Justice to open a criminal investigation into Christopher Steele, the author of a controversial opposition research dossier on President Trump.
Sens. Chuck Grassley (Iowa) and Lindsey Graham (S.C.) sent a letter to Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein and FBI Director Christopher Wray asking that they investigate if the former British intelligence agent lied to federal authorities.
"I don’t take lightly making a referral for criminal investigation. But, as I would with any credible evidence of a crime unearthed in the course of our investigations, I feel obliged to pass that information along to the Justice Department for appropriate review,” Grassley said in a statement.
Graham added that "after reviewing how Mr. Steele conducted himself in distributing information contained in the dossier and how many stop signs the DOJ ignored in its use of the dossier, I believe that a special counsel needs to review this matter."
The letter is the first known criminal referral from any of the congressional investigations into Russia's election interference.
As part of their request, the two senators passed along a memo tied to "certain communications between Christopher Steele and multiple U.S. news outlets." They did not publicly release the memorandum, which is classified.
The referral is the latest sign of partisan splintering of the Judiciary Committee's wide-ranging investigation into Russia, the 2016 election and potential political interference of the FBI.
Sen. Dianne Feinstein (Calif.), the top Democrat on the panel, blasted the letter as the latest attempt by GOP lawmakers to turn the committee's focus away from Trump.
"I think this referral is unfortunate as it’s clearly another effort to deflect attention from what should be the committee’s top priority: determining whether there was collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia to influence the election and whether there was subsequent obstruction of justice," she said.
Rest - http://thehill.com/blogs/floor-action/senate/367631-gop-senators-request-criminal-investigation-of-trump-dossier-author
GOP Senators Ask Justice Department for Criminal Probe of Trump Dossier Author
-An innocent explanation ‘seems unlikely,’ Grassley says
-Dossier by former spy Christopher Steele is Republican focus
Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley asked the Justice Department Friday to investigate whether the author of a salacious dossier on Donald Trump made false statements to federal investigators.
Grassley and fellow Republican Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina took the unusual step of asking Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein to investigate the report’s author, former British spy Christopher Steele.
“As I would with any credible evidence of a crime unearthed in the course of our investigations, I feel obliged to pass that information along to the Justice Department for appropriate review,” Grassley said. “Maybe there is some innocent explanation for the inconsistencies we have seen, but it seems unlikely. In any event, it’s up to the Justice Department to figure that out.”
Graham said that he wants a special counsel to review how Steele conducted himself in distributing information contained in the dossier and how the Justice Department used it. The senators’ concerns in this case center around Steele’s answers about the distribution of details from the dossier.
"The rule of law depends on the government and all who work on its behalf playing by the rules themselves. I hope the Department of Justice will carefully review our letter and take appropriate action,” Graham said.
Rest - https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-01-05/grassley-asks-justice-for-criminal-probe-of-trump-dossier-author