Following a Tuesday call by President Trump's outside counsel Jay Sekulow for a special counsel to investigate recently demoted DOJ Official Bruce Ohr and his wife Nellie Ohr's contacts with opposition research firm Fusion GPS during the summer and fall of 2016, Attorney General Jeff Sessions is reportedly exploring whether or not to move forward with this option.
Attorney General Jeff Sessions
In a statement issued hours after Sekulow's appearance on Fox News, Sessions said: "I've put a Senior Attorney, with the resources he may need, to review cases in our office and make a recommendation to me, if things aren't being pursued that need to be pursued, if cases may need more resources to complete in a proper manner, and to recommend to me if the standards for a special counsel are met, and the recommended one should be established" according to Fox News journalist Jake Gibson via Twitter:
#BREAKING Sessions on calls for a special counsel to look into Sr DOJ Official Bruce Ohr, and wife Nellie’s contacts with Fusion GPS during the summer and fall of 2016: “I’ve put a Senior Attorney, with the resources he may need, to review cases in our office ... 1/2
— jakebgibson (@JakeBGibson) December 12, 2017
“and make a recommendation to me,if things aren’t being pursued that need to be pursued, if cases may need more resources to complete in a proper manner,and to recommend to me if the standards for a special counsel are met, and the recommended one should be established” #FoxNews
— jakebgibson (@JakeBGibson) December 12, 2017
Bruce and Nellie Ohr
Sekulow made the call after a Fox News report revealed that senior DOJ Official Bruce Ohr was demoted for concealing his meetings with Fusion GPS, the firm behind the infamous Trump-Russia dossier. Fox also revealed that Ohr's wife Nellie worked for Fusion GPS as well as the CIA. As reported by Fox News, a senior Justice Department official demoted last week for concealing his meetings with the men behind the anti-Trump “dossier” had even closer ties to Fusion GPS, the firm responsible for the incendiary document, than have been disclosed, Fox News has confirmed: The official’s wife worked for Fusion GPS during the 2016 election.
Contacted by Fox News, investigators for the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (HPSCI) confirmed that Nellie H. Ohr, wife of the demoted official, Bruce G. Ohr, worked for the opposition research firm last year. The precise nature of Mrs. Ohr’s duties – including whether she worked on the dossier – remains unclear but a review of her published works available online reveals Mrs. Ohr has written extensively on Russia-related subjects. HPSCI staff confirmed to Fox News that she was paid by Fusion GPS through the summer and fall of 2016.
And as we reported earlier today, Nellie Ohr not only worked for Fusion GPS, but also represented the CIA's "Open Source Works" group at a 2010 "working group report on international organized crime."
Nellie Ohr, the wife of demoted DOJ official, Bruce Ohr, not only worked for Fusion GPS, but has also represented the CIA's "Open Source Works" group. https://t.co/u5HPgJwvWd pic.twitter.com/ZPhAIzR6wv
— Josh Caplan (@joshdcaplan) December 12, 2017
House investigators also determined that during the 2016 election, Bruce Ohr met with former MI6 spy Christopher Steele, and shortly after the 2016 election he met with Glenn Simpson, the co-founder of Fusion GPS - who commissioned Steele to assemble the dossier.
Meanwhile, FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe cancelled a scheduled Tuesday morning testimony in front of the House Intelligence Committee amid the revelations concerning the Ohrs.
As we reported in November, Sessions is also reportedly entertaining the idea of appointing a second special counsel to investigate alleged wrongdoing by the Clinton Foundation and the controversial sale of a uranium company to Russia. A letter obtained by the Washington Post shows Sessions directed senior federal prosecutors to explore at least some of these matters and report back to him and his top deputy, Rod Rosenstein, as to whether the DOJ should follow up with a full-blown investigation.
When asked by Rep Jim Jordan (R-OH) "What's it going to take to actually get a special counsel" in the Uranium One scandal, Sessions replied "It would take a factual basis... I would say, 'looks like' is not enough basis to appoint a special counsel."
Well, Jeff, it 'looks like' the Ohrs have been caught red handed with deep ties to the DNC and Clinton funded opposition research firm Fusion GPS, which is behind at least three failed attempts to dislodge Donald Trump from winning the 2016 election - the "dossier," the nothingburger Trump Tower meeting, and a failed attempt to link the President to billionaire pedophile Jeff Epstein.