Government watchdog Judicial Watch issued a series of fresh lawsuits to the Department of Justice Monday, seeking more information about the role the infamous dossier played in the FBI's investigation of the Trump campaign.
Specifically, Judicial Watch wants information about the roles former Associate Deputy Attorney General Bruce Ohr and his wife Nellie Ohr played in creating or promoting the dossier. As a reminder, Ohr was demoted after it was revealed his wife worked for Fusion GPS and was originally hired to work on the dossier. The dossier was paid for by the Clinton campaign.
A reminder of the backstory:
A co-founder of the opposition research firm Fusion GPS acknowledged in a new court document that his company hired the wife of a senior Justice Department official to help investigate then-candidate Donald Trump last year.
The confirmation from Glenn Simpson came in a signed declaration filed in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., and provided a fuller picture of the nature of Nellie Ohr’s work – after Fox News first reported on her connection to Fusion GPS.
Her husband, Bruce Ohr, was demoted at the DOJ last week for concealing his meetings with the same company, which commissioned the anti-Trump “dossier” containing salacious allegations about the now-president. Together, the Fusion connections for Mr. and Mrs. Ohr have raised Republican concerns about objectivity at the Justice Department, and even spurred a call from Trump’s outside counsel for a separate special prosecutor.
What Judicial Watch wants:
Judicial Watch’s December 7, 2017, FOIA request about Bruce Ohr seeks:
-All records of contact or communication, including but not limited to emails, text messages, and instant chats between Bruce Ohr and any of the following individuals/entities: former British intelligence officer Christopher Steele; owner of Fusion GPS Glenn Simpson; and any other employees or representatives of Fusion GPS.
-All travel requests, authorizations and expense reports for Bruce Ohr.
-All calendar entries for Bruce Ohr.
Judicial Watch’s December 12, 2017, FOIA request about Nellie Ohr seeks:
-All records of contact or communication, including but not limited to emails, text messages, and instant chats, between DOJ officials in the Attorney General’s Office and Fusion GPS employee or contractor Nellie Ohr.
-All records of communications, including but not limited to emails, text messages and instant chats, between DOJ officials in the Attorney General’s Office and Fusion GPS employee or contractor Nellie H. Ohr.
“Once again, the Deep State Justice Department is covering up evident misconduct targeting President Trump,” Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton said in a statement. “A top Justice Department official in the Obama administration had an obvious conflict of interest through his wife Nellie’s work with the Clinton/DNC vendor Fusion GPS on the anti-Trump Dossier. The Justice Department needs to come clean about this scandal and turn over the documents as federal law requires.”
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