Devin Nunes has 10 questions for the FBI on the Trump dossier

pulse

February 22, 2018 6:53 PM

Devin Nunes has sent a list of 10 questions to top US officials to get answers on how they handled information contained in the Trump-Russia dossier.

House Intelligence Committee chairman Devin Nunes sent a list of 10 questions to top US officials to get answers on how they handled information contained in the so-called Trump-Russia dossier.
That dossier, compiled by former British spy Christopher Steele, is the subject of an ongoing investigation by Republicans into corruption and bias against President Donald Trump at the FBI and the Justice Department.
Nunes said he will "initiate compulsory process" if his questions are not answered by March 2.

As his investigation into corruption and bias at the FBI and the Department of Justice enters its next phase, House Intelligence Committee chairman Devin Nunes sent a list of 10 questions to current and former intelligence, law enforcement, and US State Department officials about the infamous dossier on President Donald Trump.

"If you do not provide timely answers on a voluntary basis, the Committee will initiate compulsory process," Nunes wrote in his February 20 letter, obtained by Fox News. He told the officials to respond by March 2.

The letter contains a series of questions that attempt to uncover who knew what was contained in the Trump dossier and when, as well as whether intelligence officials shared information in the dossier with any third parties.

The dossier, compiled by former British intelligence officer Christopher Steele, alleges that the Russian government has compromising information on Trump. Nunes contends that the FBI and the DOJ unjustly used the dossier to obtain a surveillance warrant on Carter Page, a former Trump campaign adviser.

Former FBI Director James Comey described some aspects of the dossier as "salacious and unverified," but earlier this month, Trump cleared for release a memo — spearheaded by Nunes — that admitted that Steele's reporting was at least "minimally corroborated." As far as we know, many of the allegations remain unverified.

The Nunes memo claims the FBI and the DOJ withheld pertinent information about the partisan nature of the origins of the Trump dossier. Steele's work on the dossier was funded by the Democratic National Committee and a law firm connected to former Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton's 2016 campaign.

Democrats contend that the Nunes memo painted an inaccurate picture of what really happened, and the ranking member on the committee, Rep. Adam Schiff, tried to release a rebuttal memo, but Trump blocked it from being declassified.

Nunes' latest query is part of what the Republican congressman has called "phase two" of his investigation, focusing on potential corruption at the State Department. Nunes has said he hopes to release up to five more memos.