A newly declassified FBI memo on Wednesday revealed that Nellie Ohr, a researcher for opposition research firm Fusion GPS, gave false testimony to Congress in 2018 about her involvement in the Trump-Russia investigation, including her communications with Justice Department officials during the heat of the 2016 election.
According to a 2019 internal analysis by the FBI’s public corruption squad in Washington, which was made public Wednesday by Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-IA), Ohr falsely denied having any knowledge of then-ongoing DOJ investigations and denied sharing her research with anyone outside Fusion GPS — including with her husband, Bruce Ohr, then a senior DOJ official.
On May 3, 2019, the FBI was assigned to review a congressional criminal referral from then-Rep. Mark Meadows (R-NC), alleging Ohr made false statements during her testimony to lawmakers the year before, a violation of Section 1001 of U.S. Code.
The initial investigation of the allegations “established the fact that Nellie Ohr provided demonstrably false information in two aspects of her testimony and that she may have provided false testimony in other regard,” according to the FBI analysis sheet.
“Whether this false testimony might lead to a viable 1001 charge is for the DOJ’s Public Integrity Section (PIN) to determine,” it continued.
The FBI analysis revealed that Nellie Ohr’s private communications contradict her sworn testimony before Congress in October 2018. These communications occurred primarily between April and August 2016, at the height of the FBI’s Crossfire Hurricane investigation, which began on July 31, 2016. Her emails show she was actively researching Trump’s alleged ties to Russia, communicating with DOJ prosecutors, and sharing intelligence through her husband.
Fusion GPS was hired by the Democratic National Committee and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s campaign in April 2016 to conduct opposition research. That same month, Nellie Ohr emailed her husband and other DOJ contacts about her research. On April 11, 2016, she wrote, “I enjoyed talking with [DOJ prosecutors] and am thinking about potential future conversations.” This week’s memo confirmed that Nellie Ohr provided a thumb drive filled with Fusion GPS research to Bruce Ohr, the associate deputy attorney general under former President Barack Obama’s administration.
In an email on July 6, 2016, Nellie Ohr flagged an article to Bruce Ohr highlighting a quote: “If Putin wanted to concoct the ideal candidate to service his purposes, his laboratory creation would look like Donald Trump.”
These communications occurred as Bruce Ohr was working with the FBI on Russian organized crime cases and as Crossfire Hurricane, the scandal-plagued FBI investigation based on ultimately discredited allegations, was being launched.
The couple’s close collaboration raised concerns inside the FBI, particularly as Bruce Ohr became a backchannel between Fusion GPS source Christopher Steele and federal law enforcement after the FBI cut off Steele in November 2016.
Nellie Ohr told Congress she purchased a ham radio for emergency communications “well before” working at Fusion GPS, but the FBI determined she took the classes on how to use it during her time with the firm in mid-2016, suggesting an intent to communicate off-grid.
Despite the evidence that Nellie Ohr lied to Congress, the DOJ did not bring charges. Grassley blasted the Justice Department for inaction, saying it shows “deeply disturbing political bias.”
“The DOJ’s inaction on Nellie Ohr’s criminal referral – despite the obviously incriminating evidence provided in the FBI’s own analysis – undermines public trust in the rule of law,” Grassley said in a statement that applauded FBI Director Kash Patel and Attorney General Pam Bondi for their transparency in providing the analysis.
Fusion GPS’s research culminated in the now-discredited Steele dossier, a central document in Crossfire Hurricane, which was shared with top Obama officials and several journalists in late 2016.
Bruce and Nellie Ohr were in frequent contact with DOJ prosecutors and FBI officials throughout 2016 and early 2017. In one exchange, Bruce Ohr emailed Nellie about a possible interview with DOJ investigators: “Hi honey! I trust you are okay with this? Love, B.” She responded: “Sure! Cool.”
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Grassley, who has led yearslong oversight efforts into the origins of the Trump-Russia investigation, accused the FBI and DOJ under past presidents of “obstructive conduct” in stalling efforts to gather more evidence.
“Ohr never suffered consequences for advancing the phony Trump-Russia narrative and attempting to cover up her involvement in the hoax,” Grassley said. “Yet time and again, the American justice system has been weaponized against President Trump and his associates with reckless abandon.”