It’s the Judiciary Committee’s first public criminal referral in the Russia investigation.


The Senate Judiciary Committee, which is supposed to be probing whether the Russian government actively colluded with President Donald Trump’s campaign team to influence the outcome of the 2016 election, made its first public criminal referral on Friday, targeting a former British intelligence agent who sought to reveal that alleged collusion.

The recommendation fuels criticism that the committee’s investigation has splintered along party lines, with Republicans reportedly more interested in probing matters involving Trump’s 2016 rival, Hillary Clinton, as Trump grows increasingly frustrated with the FBI’s Russia probe.

In a letter to Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein and FBI Director Christopher Wray, Sens. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) recommended a criminal investigation of Christopher Steele for possibly violating the U.S. law that prohibits individuals from making false statements to federal investigators.

Steele is the author of a now-infamous dossier of research memos that include damaging claims about Trump and his business dealings in Russia. The dossier was commissioned in June 2016 by Fusion GPS, a Washington, D.C.-based research firm.

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