Christopher Steele, the ex-British spy who compiled the salacious anti-Trump dossier that sparked the Russia investigation, feared congressional inquiries, according to new documents released Thursday night.

The surprising revelation was the most interesting detail among the 34 pages of FBI agent interview notes with Justice Department official Bruce Ohr. Known as 302s, the notes document FBI agents’ interviews with Mr. Ohr.

In May 2017, Mr. Ohr told the agents Mr. Steele was “worried” about the upcoming Senate testimony of then-FBI Director James B. Comey. The 302s do not indicate specifically what he feared Mr. Comey might say, but he was especially concerned about questions that he expected to be raised by Sen. Charles E. Grassley, Iowa Republican. At that time, Mr. Grassley chaired the Senate Judiciary Committee.

The section detailing what had Mr. Steele so worried is heavily redacted.

Mr. Ohr also told the agents Mr. Steele informed him that the United Kingdom’s disclosure laws were more narrow and thus restricted his ability to testify before Congress, according to the release.

Mr. Ohr is the Justice Department official who met with Steele and Glenn Simpson, who was head of opposition research firm Fusion GPS. His wife, Nellie Ohr, worked for Fusion GPS during the 2016 presidential campaign.

In the months prior to the election, the Hillary Clinton campaign and Democratic National Committee hired Fusion GPS to dig up dirt on her opponent, Donald Trump.

The Justice Department released the 302s in response to a lawsuit by Judicial Watch, a conservative watchdog group.

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