Jan. 5 (UPI) — Two top Republicans on a panel investigating Russia’s meddling in the 2016 presidential election recommended a criminal investigation Friday into the author of a dossier on President Donald Trump.
Sens. Chuck Grassley, chairman of the Senate Committee on the Judiciary, and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, made the recommendation in a letter to Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein and FBI Director Christopher Wray.
They recommended Christopher Steele, the author of the dossier, be investigated for allegedly making false statements about the distribution of claims contained in the dossier. They said the referral doesn’t pertain to the truthfulness of claims within the dossier.
“I don’t take lightly making a referral for criminal investigation. But, as I would with any credible evidence of a crime unearthed in the course of our investigations, I feel obliged to pass that information along to the Justice Department for appropriate review,” Grassley said.
Steele is a former British spy who wrote a document alleging Russian interference in the election and the Trump campaign’s collusion. The document, released Jan. 10, said Russia had information on Trump it could use against him.
“After reviewing how Mr. Steele conducted himself in distributing information contained in the dossier and how many stop signs the DOJ ignored in its use of the dossier, I believe that a special counsel needs to review this matter,” Graham said. “The rule of law depends on the government and all who work on its behalf playing by the rules themselves. I hope the Department of Justice will carefully review our letter and take appropriate action.”
