Attorney General William Barr appointed Connecticut U.S. Attorney John Durham to investigate the origins of the Russia probe. Christopher Steele, a former Russia expert for the British spy agency MI6 and author of the Russia dossier, refuses to cooperate with Durham, Reuters reported.
President Donald Trump gave Barr permission to declassify any documents relating to the Russia probe, something intelligence officials, like former CIA Director John Brennan, take issue with.
Private investigation firm Fusion GPS represented the Democratic Party and Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign and brought Steele on board their team. Steele produced the dossier with various reports describing alleged interactions Donald Trump and his campaign staff had with Russians before the election.
The FBI used the Steele dossier as the primary document for obtaining a FISA warrant to spy on Trump campaign advisor Carter Page, saying the campaign took part in a “well orchestrated conspiracy” with Russia. Special Counsel Robert Mueller's report, however, did not find any conspiracy.
A source told Reuters Steele refused to cooperate with Durham's investigation but would consider working with "the Justice Department’s Inspector General into how U.S. law enforcement agencies handled pre-election investigations into both Trump and Clinton." Inspector General Michael Horowitz is currently investigating how FISA warrants were obtained to spy on Page and whether or not the FBI misrepresented Steele’s history as a confidential informant for the bureau, the Daily Caller reported.
Steele voluntarily took part in the Mueller investigation when he underwent two interviews in September 2017 and provided written testimony to the Senate Intelligence Committee in August 2018, the source said.