Lindsey Graham Continues Probe into Origins of Russia Investigation

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham (R-SC) sent letters Friday to State Department and Justice Department officials regarding communication between one State Department official and Christopher Steele.

Chairman Graham sent letters to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Department of Justice (DOJ) Inspector General Michael Horowitz regarding communications between a State Department official and Steele, the former British intelligence agent who compiled the “pee-dossier” used to obtain the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) warrants to surveil Trump campaign officials.

A Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request recently revealed that Steele met with then-State Department official Kathleen Kavalec ten days prior to the issuance of the initial Carter Page FISA warrant and told her that he was “keen to see this information [the dossier] come to light prior to November,” the date of the 2016 presidential election.

“This important information further demonstrates the bias of the primary source of material that was the basis for the Carter Page FISA warrant,” Graham wrote in his letter.

In his letter, Sen. Graham requested that:

• All documents and communications on or after May 1, 2016, between State Department and DOJ employees or officials relating to Christopher Steele, the presidential campaign of Donald J. Trump, or anyone associated with the Trump campaign.
• The State Department make Ms. Kavalec available for a transcribed interview with the Judiciary Committee.
• DOJ Inspector General Horowitz consider this new information as he continues to investigate potential FISA warrant abuse.

Graham’s letters to Pompeo and Horowitz arise as Attorney General William Barr said the DOJ will continue to investigate how the FBI obtained FISA warrants to surveil the Trump campaign during the 2016 presidential election. Barr said during a recent hearing that he believes Horowitz’s investigation into the FISA warrant issue could wrap up as soon as May or June.

Read Graham’s letter to Pompeo here and Sen. Graham’s letter to Horowitz here.