It’s Full Speed Ahead for GOP Congressional Probes Into Origins of Russia Investigation; Democrats Request Probe of Barr’s Remarks on Firing of Intelligence Community IG

By PJ Media. Lost in the coronavirus crisis and Congress’s multi-trillion-dollar bailout of Americans has been some shocking revelations about the FBI’s actions in starting the investigation into the Trump campaign’s ties to the Kremlin.

Recently declassified footnotes in the inspector general’s report on FISA abuses show the FBI to have knowingly disseminated Russian disinformation using the Steele Dossier as part of the basis for beginning the investigation. This has given new impetus to Senate investigations into how the effort to tie the Trump campaign to Russian intelligence got it so wrong. . .

The Hill:

Sens. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), seizing on newly declassified details of a Justice Department watchdog report, are asking FBI Director Christopher Wray to hand over all records related to “Crossfire Hurricane,” the name for the counterintelligence investigation into the Trump campaign and Russia.

“We are deeply troubled by the Crossfire Hurricane team’s awareness of and apparent indifference to Russian disinformation, as well as by the grossly inaccurate statements by the FBI official in charge of the investigation and its supervisory intelligence analyst,” the two GOP senators wrote Thursday in a letter to Wray.

(Read more from “It’s Full Speed Ahead for GOP Congressional Probes Into Origins of Russia Investigation” HERE)

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Democrats Request Probe of Barr’s Remarks on Firing of Intelligence Community IG

By The Hill. Democratic Sens. Mark Warner (Va.) and Dianne Feinstein (Calif.) are calling on Justice Department watchdogs to investigate Attorney General William Barr’s comments about the firing of intelligence community Inspector General Michael Atkinson.

Warner and Feinstein — the top Democrats on the Intelligence and Judiciary Committees, respectively — sent a letter Friday to Jeffrey Ragsdale, acting director of the Department of Justice (DOJ) Office of Professional Responsibility, and DOJ Inspector General Michael Horowitz arguing that Barr has “misstated key facts.”

“This is a disservice to ICIG Atkinson. It also raises broader questions about whether Attorney General Barr is following Department policies and rules of professional conduct that demand candor and impartiality from lawyers, particularly those who serve the public trust,” the senators wrote

“We request that you investigate whether Attorney General Barr’s statements in matters involving the interests of the President violate applicable Justice Department policies and rules of professional conduct,” they added. (Read more from “Democrats Request Probe of Barr’s Remarks on Firing of Intelligence Community IG” HERE)

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