Last week the Justice Department and FBI blew threw a deadline to turn over documents to the House Intelligence Committee about the infamous Russian dossier. That dossier was compiled by Fusion GPS and paid for by the Clinton campaign. Officials have until the end of today to comply with subpoena requests from Chairman Devin Nunes, who has threatened them with contempt.
But as the stonewalling continues, the more questions arise about the dossier: its origination, how it was used, who else pitched in to pay for it, etc.
Republican Congressman Jim Jordan has a few things he wants answered:
18 questions in 2018 about Russia and the FBI. The American people deserve answers...
— Rep. Jim Jordan (@Jim_Jordan) January 3, 2018
1) Did the FBI pay Christopher Steele, author of the dossier?
— Rep. Jim Jordan (@Jim_Jordan) January 3, 2018
2) Was the dossier the basis for securing FISA warrants to spy on Americans? And why won’t the FBI show Congress the FISA application?
— Rep. Jim Jordan (@Jim_Jordan) January 3, 2018
3) When did the FBI get the complete dossier and who gave it to them?
— Rep. Jim Jordan (@Jim_Jordan) January 3, 2018
Dossier author Christopher Steele?
Fusion GPS?
Clinton campaign/DNC?
Sen. McCain’s staffer?
4) Did the FBI validate and corroborate the dossier?
— Rep. Jim Jordan (@Jim_Jordan) January 3, 2018
5) Did Peter Strzok, Lisa Page, or Bruce Orr work on the FISA application?
— Rep. Jim Jordan (@Jim_Jordan) January 3, 2018
6) Why and how often did DOJ lawyer Bruce Orr meet with dossier author Christopher Steele during the 2016 campaign?
— Rep. Jim Jordan (@Jim_Jordan) January 3, 2018
7) Why did DOJ lawyer Bruce Orr meet with Fusion GPS founder Glenn Simpson after the election? To get their story straight after their candidate Clinton lost? Or to double down and plan how they were going to go after President-elect Trump?
— Rep. Jim Jordan (@Jim_Jordan) January 3, 2018
8) When and how did the FBI learn that DOJ lawyer Bruce Orr’s wife, Nellie Orr, worked for Fusion GPS? And what exactly was Nellie Orr’s role in putting together the dossier?
— Rep. Jim Jordan (@Jim_Jordan) January 3, 2018
9) Why did the FBI release text messages between Peter Strzok and Lisa Page? Normally, ongoing investigation is reason not to make such information public.
— Rep. Jim Jordan (@Jim_Jordan) January 3, 2018
10) And why did FBI release only 375/10,000+ texts? Were they the best? Worst? Or part of a broader strategy to focus attention away from something else? And when can Americans see the other 96% of texts?
— Rep. Jim Jordan (@Jim_Jordan) January 3, 2018
11) Why did Lisa Page leave Mueller probe two weeks before Peter Strzok? This was two weeks before FBI and Special Counsel even knew about the texts.
— Rep. Jim Jordan (@Jim_Jordan) January 3, 2018
12) Why did the intelligence community wait two months after the election to brief President-elect Trump on the dossier (January 6, 2017)? Why was James Comey selected to do the briefing?
— Rep. Jim Jordan (@Jim_Jordan) January 3, 2018
13) Was the briefing done to “legitimize” the dossier? And who leaked the fact that the briefing was about the dossier?
— Rep. Jim Jordan (@Jim_Jordan) January 3, 2018
14) The New York Times reported last week that George Popadopoulos’ loose lips were a catalyst for launching the Russia investigation. Was President-elect Trump briefed on this?
— Rep. Jim Jordan (@Jim_Jordan) January 3, 2018
15) Why did Fusion GPS founder Glenn Simpson meet with Russian lawyer Natalia Veselnitskaya before and after her meeting with Donald Trump Jr.?
— Rep. Jim Jordan (@Jim_Jordan) January 3, 2018
16) Why was FBI General Counsel Jim Baker reassigned two weeks ago? Was he the source for the first story on the dossier by David Corn on October 31, 2016? Or was it someone else at the FBI?
— Rep. Jim Jordan (@Jim_Jordan) January 3, 2018
17) Why won’t the FBI give Congress the documents it’s requesting?
— Rep. Jim Jordan (@Jim_Jordan) January 3, 2018
18) And why would @SenSchumer, leader of the Democrat party, publicly warn President-elect Trump on Jan. 3, 2017 that when you mess with the “intelligence community, they have six ways from Sunday at getting back at you?”
— Rep. Jim Jordan (@Jim_Jordan) January 3, 2018
It doesn’t work that way in America. We are not ruled by unelected bureaucrats, police forces, or intelligence agencies. In America, We The People ELECT officials who govern.
— Rep. Jim Jordan (@Jim_Jordan) January 3, 2018
All of these questions remain unanswered as the Special Counsel investigation continues, along with investigations on Capitol Hill.
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