GOP Wants DOJ Watchdog to Produce Unredacted Records Related to Trump–Russia Election Ties

Republican Senators Demand Uncensored Records from DOJ

Hold on to your hats, folks! Republican senators Ron Johnson and Charles Grassley have written a letter to the Inspector General of the Department of Justice (DOJ) asking for uncensored records related to the agency’s review of the FBI probe into alleged Trump–Russia election links. This is big news!

The senators are concerned about the 460 pages of “heavily redacted records” that the nonprofit Citizens United recently obtained in response to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request. The DOJ’s Office of Inspector General (OIG) delivered these records to Citizens United in response to the nonprofit’s request for interview transcripts linked to the department’s review of the FBI’s Crossfire Hurricane investigation.

Crossfire Hurricane was the code name for an FBI probe that began in 2016 that looked into whether Donald Trump’s campaign coordinated with Russia to influence election results. The DOJ OIG report of the review was titled “Review of Four FISA Applications and Other Aspects of the FBI’s Crossfire Hurricane Investigation.”

What the Senators Want

The senators specifically highlighted four transcribed interviews and notes related to four individuals—Kathleen Kavalec, Lisa Page, Nellie Ohr, and Loretta Lynch—who played a key role in DOJ OIG’s investigation. They also asked the DOJ to reveal how many of the 170 interviews it conducted with 100 witnesses were transcribed. In case any of the interviews were not transcribed, the department has to explain the reason and provide a list of such interviews. The letter sought a response from the DOJ no later than May 9.

FBI Pursuit of Trump

In the letter, the senators point out that they have been examining the FBI’s Crossfire Hurricane investigation as well as the OIG’s report on the matter “for years.” On Dec. 18, 2019, Johnson, who is the chairman of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, held a hearing to discuss the OIG’s findings.

The OIG’s report contained a statement from Bill Priestap, an FBI official, that the FBI “didn’t have any indication whatsoever” of Russian influence on the report, which is known as the Steele dossier. However, Grassley and Johnson’s investigation into the issue contradicted such a claim.

This is a developing story, so stay tuned for more updates!