Graham Seeks Communications Between State Dept. Official and Dossier Author

Newly released notes revealed the apparent political purposes of the infamous Steele dossier which was used by the FBI to secure a warrant to spy on former Trump campaign associate Carter Page.

Lindsey Graham, the Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman, sent a letter (pdf) to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on May 10 requesting that the Department of State provide documents related to communications between the department’s officials and the author of the dossier, British ex-spy Christopher Steele.

He made the requests after the notes of an Oct. 11, 2016, meeting between Steele and then-Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Kathleen Kavalec emerged.

According to the notes, Steele reportedly told Kavalec that an unidentified organization was “keen to see this information (the dossier) come to light prior to November 8,” the date of the 2016 presidential election. Steele at the time was working for Fusion GPS—an opposition research firm paid by the Democratic National Committee (DNC) and the Hillary Clinton 2016 presidential campaign—during that time period.

“It was unclear until recently, however, how significant her communications with Steele may have been,” Graham wrote in the letter addressed to Pompeo.

The document was able to be released due to the Freedom of Information Act.

State Department handwritte… by on Scribd

In the letter, Graham requested the State Department provide all documents and communications on or after May 1, 2016, between State Department and Department of Justice (DOJ) employees or officials relating to Steele, the 2016 presidential campaign of Donald Trump, or anyone associated with the Trump campaign.

He also required the State Department to make Kavalec available for a transcribed interview with the Judiciary Committee.

Chairman @LindseyGrahamSC Continues Investigation into Origins of Russia Probe:

New details show political motivation behind Carter Page FISA warrant applicationhttps://t.co/m71PCQQpZz pic.twitter.com/F7gVnJbY5j — Senate Judiciary (@senjudiciary) May 10, 2019

Graham simultaneously sent another letter (pdf) to DOJ Inspector General Michael Horowitz and asked him to consider the newly uncovered information in Horowitz’s ongoing investigation into potential FISA abuse surrounding the 2016 election.

“I request that you include, if you have not already, consideration of this new information regarding State Department involvement with the Carter Page FISA warrant, the Steele dossier, and direct communications between State Department officials and Steele,” he wrote in the letter.

Steele made several allegations during the Oct. 11 meeting that were proved to be false by the Mueller report, the Hill reported.

FBI ‘Aware the Dossier Was a Lie’ Before Spying on Trump Campaign: Mark Meadows

Two days after the Oct. 11, 2016, meeting, Kavalec forwarded her typed summary to officials showing her concern about Steele’s credibility.

Rep. Mark Meadows (R-N.C.) affirmed to the Hill that Kavalec’s memo was forwarded to the FBI in an Oct. 13, 2016, email, eight days before the FBI used Steele and his dossier as key pieces of evidence to justify a Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) warrant to spy on Trump Campaign adviser Carter Page.

Meadows also said that the FBI knew the dossier was not credible before the FISA warrant application.

“This once again shows officials at the FBI and DOJ were well aware the dossier was a lie—from very early on in the process all the way to when they made the conscious decision to include it in a FISA application,” he told the Hill. “The fact that Christopher Steele and his partisan research document were treated in any way seriously by our Intelligence Community leaders amounts to malpractice.”

However, according to a footnote on page 15 of the Carter Page FISA application (pdf), the FBI stated that the Steele dossier “has been corroborated,” Steele was said to “be reliable,” and the “FBI is unaware of any derogatory information pertaining to” Steele.

The evidence is mounting that Comey deceived the FISA court concerning the Steele dossier. State did a quick verification and threw Steele out. Comey did no verification for 5 months and conducted an illicit SPYING OPERATION. Let’s see how long Dem media protects Comey. — Rudy Giuliani (@RudyGiuliani) May 9, 2019

President Trump’s lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, expressed his concern that Former FBI Director James Comey “deceived the FISA court.”

“The evidence is mounting that Comey deceived the FISA court concerning the Steele dossier. State did a quick verification and threw Steele out. Comey did no verification for 5 months and conducted an illicit SPYING OPERATION. Let’s see how long Dem media protects Comey,” he tweeted.

Correction: A previous version of this article incorrectly stated Michael Horowitz as the Inspector General of the State Department. Horowitz is the Inspector General of the Justice Department. The Epoch Times regrets the error.