Graham releases newly declassified documents on Russia probe

Senate Judiciary Committee Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) on Friday released two recently declassified documents tied to the years-long Russia probe, including notes suggesting FBI officials were skeptical of reports in early 2017 of contact between the Trump campaign and Russian intelligence officials.

The documents — an annotated version of a New York Times story and a 57-page memo of an interview with a source for Christopher Steele, who compiled a controversial research dossier against then-candidate Trump — comes as Republicans are ramping up their Obama-era investigations.

Graham, a top ally of Trump’s, is investigating “Crossfire Hurricane,” the FBI’s investigation into Russia’s election interference and the Trump campaign, and former special counsel Robert Mueller’s probe, which subsumed it.

In one of the documents released by Graham, Peter Strzok, a former FBI agent, annotated a New York Times February 2017 article headlined “Trump Campaign Aides Had Repeated Contacts With Russian Intelligence.”

“This statement is misleading and inaccurate as written. We have not seen evidence of any individuals affiliated with the Trump team in contact with IOs,” one of Strzok’s annotations reads, referring to intelligence officers.

“Again we are unaware of ANY Trump advisors engaging in conversations with Russian intelligence officials,” he adds in another note.

Graham, in a statement, argued that Strzok’s notes “question the entire premise of the FBI’s investigation” and undercuts Mueller’s probe.

“These documents, which I have long sought, tell a damning story for anyone who’s interested in trying to find the truth behind the corrupt nature of the FBI’s investigation into the Trump campaign in 2016 and beyond,” Graham added.

But Strzok’s comments came before the investigation into Trump adviser Roger Stone, who he wrote in one note had not been investigated. A 2016 Trump Tower meeting that involved Donald Trump Jr., son-in-law Jared Kushner, campaign manager Paul Manafort and Russian lawyer Natalia Veselnitskaya also wasn’t first reported by The New York Times until mid-2017, months after Strzok made his notes.

A 22-month investigation led by Mueller did not find sufficient evidence that members of the Trump campaign coordinated or conspired with Moscow to tip the election in their favor.

The other document released by Graham is a memo detailing a three-day interview with a key source for Steele. The documents, which still include several areas of redaction, were declassified by Attorney General William Barr. 

It’s the latest instance of Trump administration officials declassifying documents tied to the Russia probe for Senate Republican chairmen, who have vowed to “investigate the investigators.”

Sens. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) and Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) released a two-page annex last month from the intelligence community’s assessment on Russian interference after Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe declassified it at their request.

Republicans have homed in for years on the Steele dossier, viewing it as a politically motivated hit job. It was funded, in part, by Hillary Clinton’s 2016 campaign and the Democratic National Committee and made a series of serious allegations about Trump’s relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin that have either been disproven or remain unsubstantiated.

The report from Graham isn’t the first to note discrepancies between Steele and his source. Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz previously highlighted it in a report where he noted 17 inaccuracies and omissions in the surveillance warrant applications targeting former Trump campaign adviser Carter Page.

“The FBI discovered discrepancies between Steele’s reporting and statements sub-sources made to the FBI, which raised doubts about the reliability of some of Steele’s reports,” Horowitz wrote.

But former Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein told members of the Judiciary Committee earlier this year that while information from Steele was in the dossier it was, to his understanding, only verified information.

“The Steele dossier was not in the FISA, was not submitted to the court,” he added.