House Oversight Committee Chairman Trey Gowdy (R-S.C.) warned of possible subpoenas if the Justice Department ignores congressional committees’ requests to question former FBI official Bruce Ohr and others about the infamous anti-Trump dossier.
Gowdy referenced reports from Fox News and The Hill, which recall how Ohr — who was not involved in the use of ex-British spy Christopher Steele as an FBI source — continued to communicate with Steele after the FBI cut ties with him.
Gowdy said Ohr’s text messages are not new to him, and said it was outrageous that a guy like Ohr — who was supposed be focused on narcotics investigations — got involved with the compiler of the Trump-Russia dossier while his wife Nellie Ohr was working for the opposition research firm assisted by Steele, Fusion GPS.
House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.) is reportedly preparing subpoenas for the Ohrs, Fusion GPS co-founder Glenn Simpson and other current and former FBI and DOJ officials, according to two congressional sources familiar with the matter.
“Chairman Goodlatte is a patient man, but we have run out of patience,” Gowdy said.
“[The DOJ] either needs to set this for a date-certain, or there will be a subpoena issued.” – READ MORE
[divider][/divider]Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-S.C.) tore into the Justice Department on Sunday for failing to disclose in a clandestine surveillance warrant application that a controversial opposition research dossier detailing salacious allegations against President Trump was funded in part by political opponents.
In an interview on “Fox News Sunday,” Gowdy said that a secret court should have been told that the dossier was partially paid for by the Clinton campaign when the FBI sought a surveillance warrant on Carter Page, a former adviser on Trump’s campaign.
“The FBI missed a really good opportunity to tell the judge exactly who paid for that,” Gowdy said.
Republicans have repeatedly accused senior Justice Department officials of inappropriately using the dossier to obtain surveillance warrants on members of Trump’s transition team – a point that Gowdy doubled down on.
“I don’t have an issue with looking into people that have cozy relationships with Russia,” Gowdy said. “I do have an issue when you rely on unvetted political opposition research.”
“My take is that Carter Page is more like Inspector Gadget than Jason Bourne or James Bond,” Gowdy added. – READ MORE
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