The Justice Department will soon release the notes from a dozen FBI interviews with Bruce Ohr, the DOJ official who met with dossier author British ex-spy Christopher Steele numerous times, including after the FBI had cut him off as a source due to improper leaks to the media.

Judicial Watch, the Washington, D.C.-based conservative watchdog group, filed a federal lawsuit in September 2018 against the Justice Department for access to the FBI's notes, known as “302s," of its 2016 and 2017 interviews in order to “compel compliance with the Freedom of Information Act” after the DOJ declined to voluntarily hand over the requested materials following the group’s August 2018 request.

Ohr, who had worked with Steele years prior and who acted as an unofficial conduit between Steele and the bureau, had a dozen such interviews with the FBI: one in November 2016, three in December 2016, three in January 2017, two in February 2017, and three in May 2017. At least some of the details from those conversations could be released by Thursday instead of the original Monday target date after the FBI pushed for a couple extra days. He was the fourth-ranking official at the DOJ until he was demoted after it was revealed he met with Steele and Glenn Simpson, the co-founder of the opposition research firm Fusion GPS, which commissioned Steele's work.

In court filings last week, DOJ attorneys said the department had “initially determined that the requested records in this case were to be withheld in full” but apparently had a change of heart “after further review” and said “DOJ has decided to release the requested records in part to plaintiff.” It is not known how complete this disclosure will be and whether significant portions of Ohr’s interviews will be withheld or redacted.

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Ohr’s wife Nellie worked for the opposition research firm Fusion GPS during the 2016 presidential campaign. Fusion GPS had been hired by Hillary Clinton's 2016 campaign and the Democratic National Committee, and the opposition research firm then hired Steele, who allegedly reached out to sources in Russia to put together his salacious and unverified dossier. That dossier was used extensively in four Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act warrant applications and renewals targeting Trump associate Carter Page.

Bruce Ohr told congressional investigators that Steele was desperate for Trump to lose in 2016.

Neither Steele's Democratic benefactors, nor his animus against Trump were disclosed to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, which has drawn the ire of Republicans.

Simpson met extensively with Bruce Ohr as well as numerous journalists to whom he provided Fusion GPS’s anti-Trump research in 2016. When Nellie Ohr was hired by Fusion GPS, Simpson knew her husband was working at the DOJ.

Both Bruce Ohr and Nellie Ohr met with Steele in the summer of 2016, including at the Mayflower Hotel in Washington, D.C., on July 30, 2016. Bruce Ohr reportedly provided information stemming from that meeting to the FBI a few days later. The FBI’s Trump-Russia counterintelligence investigation, dubbed “Crossfire Hurricane”, was launched on July 31, 2016. It is believed that controversial FBI special agent Peter Strzok signed the order that launched the inquiry.

Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton appeared optimistic about what might be learned next week, tweeting out that the news was “huge” and that “key Bruce Ohr 302 FBI reports on his coup cabal contacts with Christopher Steele are to be released to Judicial Watch imminently.”

Other than sharing his information with Bruce Ohr, Steele also provided details from his dossier to many members of the media as well as other members of the U.S. government, including then-Sen. John McCain of Arizona and former State Department official Kathleen Kavalec. Steele was cut off by the FBI as a confidential human source before the election due to his improper disclosures to the media, but the FBI continued to use his dossier in FISA filings.

In September 2018, Trump directed the DOJ to declassify a series of investigative documents including “all FBI reports of interviews with Bruce G. Ohr prepared in connection with the Russia investigation.” But a few days later he seemed to walk back that order in a follow-up tweet. It now looks like Judicial Watch’s lawsuit might result in that info coming out, even if Trump backed down.

Earlier this year, Trump gave Attorney General William Barr "full and complete authority to declassify information" related to the origins of the federal investigation into possible ties between the Trump campaign and Russia, and Barr selected U.S. Attorney John Durham as his right-hand man in this endeavor. The White House instructed agencies such as the Central Intelligence Agency, the Defense Department, the State Department, and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence to cooperate with Barr and Durham in their efforts.

DOJ Inspector General Michael Horowitz launched an inquiry in March 2018 into alleged abuse of the FISA Court process, including the FBI’s use of the Steele dossier. Horowitz’s investigation has reportedly concluded, and his report is expected after Labor Day.