Wife of Demoted Justice Department Official Worked for Fusion GPS

The Department of Justice in Washington on Dec. 7, 2017. (Samira Bouaou/The Epoch Times)

The wife of a high-ranking Department of Justice official who was demoted last week worked for the controversial company Fusion GPS.

Bruce Ohr lost his position as associate deputy attorney general after it was revealed that he had concealed his meetings with Glenn Simpson, founder of Fusion GPS, and Christopher Steele, a former British spy hired by Fusion GPS to produce the so-called “Trump dossier.”

The meetings took place during the presidential elections in 2016.

Ohr’s wife, Nellie, also worked for Fusion GPS in 2016, Fox News reported based on information from the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence.

It is unclear whether Nellie Ohr was involved with the Trump dossier, but she has written on Russia matters before. Ohr received payments from Fusion GPS through the summer and fall of 2016, the same time that the dossier was being produced.

The Justice Department seal. (Charlotte Cuthbertson/The Epoch Times)

The revelation comes as congressional investigations are trying to establish whether the Trump dossier was used as the basis for the FBI’s investigation into alleged collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia.

This would be significant, since the dossier was paid for by Donald Trump’s political opponents, the Clinton campaign and the Democratic National Committee.

Both the Clinton Campaign and the DNC had denied being the financiers of the dossier for nearly a year, until the details of the payments were published by The Washington Post on Oct. 24. The payments were routed through law firm Perkins Coie and mislabeled in FEC filings to avoid detection.

Earlier this month, it was revealed that an FBI agent who played a key role in the Russia probe was fired from Special Council Robert Mueller’s team. Peter Strzok had sent text messages to his mistress, who also worked at the FBI, revealing his bias against President Donald Trump.

During the presidential elections, Peter Strzok was involved in the investigation into Hillary Clinton’s unsecured email server.

According to The Hill, Strzok allegedly changed a key phrase in the FBI’s conclusion on the case when former FBI Director James Comey gave his statement on the FBI’s decision.

Strzok changed the language on the Clinton email case from “grossly negligent,” which would have been a crime, to “extremely careless.” Changing the phrase may have exonerated Clinton.

Strzok also played a lead role in the FBI investigation into the allegations of collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia. Strzok later also joined Mueller’s team.

The first installment of Steele’s dossier was dated June 20, 2016, which means it preceded the FBI opening its investigation.

Former FBI Director James Comey testifies before the Senate Intelligence Committee in the Hart Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill in Washington on June 8, 2017. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

The contents of the dossier had been described by former FBI Director James Comey as “salacious and unverified” in testimony before the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence on June 8.

Nevertheless, Steele had actively sought contact with the FBI in early July.

“He regularly consults with U.S. government agencies on Russian matters, and near the start of July on his own initiative—without the permission of the U.S. company that hired him—he sent a report he had written for that firm to a contact at the FBI, according to the former intelligence officer and his American associates, who asked not to be identified,” Mother Jones cited a senior U.S. official saying on Oct. 31, 2016.

According to the publication, the FBI requested “all the information in his possession” in August.

The FBI has not been forthcoming about some of the details of the Russia investigation. House Republicans are now preparing contempt charges against the FBI and Department of Justice, and, according to the Washington Examiner, some of the charges are related to the FBI withholding key information about its investigation into Russian meddling.

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