Testifying behind closed doors before the House Oversight and Judiciary Committtees yesterday, 56-year-old Deputy Atty. Gen. Bruce Ohn answered questions from angry GOP lawmakers, attesting, if nothing else, to the bitterly divided nature of Congress. Democrats have no problem with Ohr coordinating the Justice Department’s involvement in former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton’s opposition research AKA “the dossier.” Ohr had no problems creating the justification for spying on President Donald Trump and his campaign during the 2016 election. Ohr answered questions of his wife, Nellie, who worked as a contractor for Glen Simpson’s FusionGPS, the opposition research firm that contracted with the Hillary campaign and Democratic National Committee to produce “the dossier,” tying President Donald Trump to an ongoing relationship to the Kremlin.
Simpson testified Aug. 22, 2017 before the Senate Judiciary Committee, mentioning nothing about Bruce or Nellie Ohr, both of whom worked on “the dossier.” Once the cat-was-out–of-the-bag about the Ohrs working on “the dossier,” Ohr was demoted. Ohr’s involvement with “the dossier,” the document used by FBI Director James Comey to go to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act [FISA] court to get warrants to wiretap Trump campaign associates. When GOP conservatives, like Judical Watchs’ Tom Fitton” talk about the “deep state,” it’s precisely people like the Ohrs that worked behind the scenes to sabotage Trump’s campaign. Former FBI Agent Peter Strzok and FBI attorney Lisa Page, were glaring examples of the “deep state,” career FBI agents working covertly to defeat Trump. Ohr had to explain he and his wife’s role in investigating Trump and campaign associates.
Democrats on the House Oversight and Judiciary Committees want to commend Ohr for his dedicated service to the Justice Department. Painting Ohr as a loyal public servant, Democrats contend that criticizing him at the Justice Department and FBI is a GOP attempt to discredit the Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s Russian meddling and alleged Trump collusion investigation. Trump, for the life of him, can’t understand “how-the-hell” Ohr still works for the Justice Department after getting demoted for his role in “the dossier.” “I don’t know if it’s improper but I want to know who at the DOJ knew and it certainly looks he [Ohr] continued to meet with Mr. Steele after the FBI had terminated their relationship with Mr. Steele,” said Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), a member of the GOP’s conservative Freedom Caucus. Ohr was asked about his wife’s role in “the dossier.”
Showing that Democrats want to do anything possible to cover-up improper activity at the Justice Department and the FBI, Rep. Jerold Nadler (D-N.Y.) and Elijah Cummings (D-Md.) accused the GOP of trying to sabotage Mueller’s investigation. Yet if you think of Deputy Atty. Gen. Rod Rosenstein’s reasons for appointing Mueller as Special Counsel May 17, 2017, it was all about “the dossier.” Trump calls Mueller’s investigation into Russian meddling and alleged collusion a “witch hunt” and a “scam” precisely because it relies on the Steele dossier. When the late Sen. John McCain handed “the dossier” to former FBI Director James Comey in Dec. 2016, he admitted in his 2018 memoir “The Restless Wave,” that nothing was verified. Comey was already familiar with “the dossier” alleging Trump’s Kremlin involvement because its author, Christopher Steele, was on the FBI payroll.
Democrats had a field day thumping their chests when an Arlington, VA jury convicted Aug/ 21 former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort on eight-of-eighteen counts of tax evasion and bank fraud for work done 10 years before the 2016 campaign. Democrats also celebrated former Trump personal attorney Michael Cohen plea bargaining for campaign finance violations, bank and tax fraud. Democrats can’t say why Trump associate’s legal issues problems have anything to do with him. “With Paul Manafort in jail, Michael Cohen in court and a host of long time Trump confidantes cooperating with federal prosecutors, we can understand why Republicans are increasingly desperate to create a distraction and undermine the Department of Justice as a hedge against what the investigation may find,” said Nadler and Cummings, offering their own diversionary tactic.
Ohr’s testimony before the House Judiciary and Oversight Committees raises serious doubts about the Special Counsel’s investigation. If Rosenstein appointed Mueller based on “the dossier,” Trump would have every right to question the legitimacy of the investigation. Democrats don’t care if former President Barack Obama ordered his Justice Department, FBI and National Security Agency to use the nation’s intel apparatus to investigate Trump and his campaign associates. Ohr’s testimony threatens Democrats because it exposes the “deep state” that worked behind the scenes to elect Hillary and keep Trump out of the White House. When that all backfired Nov. 8, 2016, the “deep state” did everything possible to undo a national election. Using the unverified dossier to go after Trump violated the president’s due process under the 5th and 14th Amendments, raising serious questions about the Mueller probe.
