Senator Graham Seeks Interviews With 17 US Justice Dept. Officials In Trump-Russia Probe

WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 15th February, 2020) US Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham requested interviews with 17 Justice Department officials in his committee's investigation of "Crossfire Hurricane," the code name for the FBI's ill-fated effort to prove collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia, according to a letter from Graham to US Attorney General William Barr on Friday.

"As you are aware, the Committee is continuing to investigate matters related to the Justice Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation's [FBI] handling of the Crossfire Hurricane investigation, including the applications for, and renewals of a Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act [FISA] warrant on Carter Page," the letter read.

The Crossfire Hurricane investigation fizzled when Special Counsel Robert Mueller failed to find evidence of collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia after looking for more than two years.

A subsequent Inspector General report concluded that the FBI misled a FISA court to obtain warrants to wiretap conversations with Page, an aide to the Trump campaign.

The letter listed 17 Justice Department and FBI officials, most by code Names such as "Case Agent 1," or "Supervisory Special Agent 5."

However, the letter also listed seven officials by name, the most prominent being former Justice Department official Bruce Ohr.

Ohr was accused of helping former British intelligence agent Christopher Steele find dirt on candidate and later President Donald Trump for a fabricated dossier on Trump's behavior during a trip to Russia.

Ohr's wife, Nellie, worked for Fusion GPS, a consulting firm that commissioned the Steel dossier, and Ohr continued to serve as a an unofficial conduit between Steel and the Justice Department after the dossier was shown to be fake.