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New York Post
28-05-2025
- Politics
- New York Post
Nellie Ohr, Justice Department official's wife, perjured herself in Trump-Russia probe testimony, bombshell FBI records show
WASHINGTON — The wife of a former Justice Department official gave 'demonstrably false' testimony to Congress about her involvement in drafting and disseminating since-debunked dossiers about Donald Trump's purported collusion with Russia in 2016, according to a bombshell trove of internal FBI records released Wednesday by Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa). Nellie Ohr worked for research firm Fusion GPS when it was hired in the lead-up to the 2016 election to dig up dirt on the Trump campaign's alleged links to Russian organized crime — but later told a House panel she had no knowledge of the DOJ's parallel investigation into the matter. Evidence assembled by the FBI indicates that Ohr helped compile two dossiers — tincluding the notorious file pushed by former MI6 agent Christopher Steele — that helped launch the bureau's Crossfire Hurricane investigation. 4 Nellie Ohr provided 'demonstrably false' testimony to Congress about her involvement in drafting and disseminating dossiers about Donald Trump's purported collusion with Russia in 2016, according to Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa). Getty Images The Fusion GPS research repeated errors or included information similar to those discovered later in the Steele dossier. Ohr also sent emails — some of which she later deleted — directly to DOJ prosecutors, not all of whom she admitted to interacting with in subsequent congressional testimony. Ohr's husband Bruce, then a deputy associate attorney general, also received emails as well as a thumb drive from Nellie containing Fusion GPS research that was passed on to the FBI. 4 Her husband, Bruce Ohr, then a deputy associate attorney general, also received emails as well as a thumb drive from her containing the Fusion GPS research that was passed on to the FBI. AP The couple also personally met Steele at the Mayflower Hotel in Washington on July 30, 2016, and discussed allegations — later relayed to the bureau — that Trump campaign aide Carter Page had met with Russian officials and that Kremlin intelligence had the Republican candidate 'over a barrel.' While the Ohrs invoked spousal privilege before Congress on the question of whether they discussed the Trump-Russia probe, the declassified FBI files put out by Grassley reveal the bureau determined there was 'little distinction' between the couple's professional and personal lives. 'There is probable cause to believe that Bruce and Nellie did communicate with each other about their respective activity in furtherance of the Russia-collusion investigations and/or narrative,' the 43-page FBI document written in September of 2019 states. 4 Evidence assembled by the FBI point to her work helping create two dossiers — the notorious one pushed by former MI6 agent Christopher Steele and an 'Alfa' one — that helped launch the bureau's Crossfire Hurricane investigation. AFP via Getty Images The records were compiled in response to a criminal referral made that year by then-Rep. Mark Meadows (R-NC) that claimed Nellie Ohr knowingly gave false testimony about her involvement with the collusion investigation to the House Judiciary and Oversight Committees in October 2018. The Justice Department never prosecuted Ohr. In November 2019, the department did secure the conviction of Trump ally Roger Stone for lying to congressional investigators amid their probe. 'Ohr never suffered consequences for advancing the phony Trump-Russia narrative and attempting to cover up her involvement in the hoax,' Grassley said in a statement. 'Yet time and again, the American justice system has been weaponized against President Trump and his associates with reckless abandon.' 4 '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,' he added. AP '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,' he added. Grassley also thanked FBI Director Kash Patel, Attorney General Pam Bondi and Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche for declassifying the bureau's internal investigative findings. Bruce Ohr was demoted twice and resigned from his DOJ role before he could be fired in October 2020, following a disciplinary referral about his conduct from Inspector General Michael Horowitz. The Post reached out to Nellie and Bruce Ohr for comment.
Daily Mail
28-05-2025
- Business
- Daily Mail
EXCLUSIVE FBI declassifies secret document revealing dramatic development in hunt for origins of Trump Russia probe
A newly declassified document from the FBI reveals that Fusion GPS Contractor Nellie Ohr was accused of falsely testifying to Congress about her role in the Crossfire Hurricane probe into alleged links between Donald Trump 's campaign and Russia. The 2019 FBI document, exclusively obtained by the Daily Mail, reveals the Washington Field Office's Federal Public Corruption squad was tasked with the review of a Congressional Criminal Referral which accused Ohr of obstructing an investigation and providing Congress with demonstrably false information. The document outlines evidence against Ohr, indicating that it is up to the Department of Justice as to whether it might lead to a viable charge. Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley responded to the document's release in a strongly worded statement. 'By lying to Congress, Nellie Ohr showed contempt for congressional oversight and the American people,' he said in an exclusive statement to the Daily Mail. A Congressional criminal referral accused Ohr for falsely testifying that she did not have any knowledge of an ongoing investigation of President Trump's connections to Russia and denied she shared any of her research on Russia with individuals outside of her firm Fusion GPS. Fusion GPS was the company hired by the Democratic National Committee and Hillary Clinton during the 2016 campaign to connect Trump to Russian organized crime and government interests, and fed the infamous 'Steele Dossier' that was ultimately shared by the Clinton campaign with Obama administration officials and a select list of Washington, DC journalists. The document provided details of her testimony that could serve as evidence to charge Ohr with a crime, that could include lying to Congress and/or obstructing the congressional investigation. Grassley criticized the FBI and Department of Justice for failing to hold Ohr accountable. '[T]he FBI and DOJ's failure to hold Ohr accountable for appearing to commit multiple felonies and its obstructive conduct against agents that sought additional information reveals the agencies' deeply disturbing political bias,' Grassley added. 'Ohr never suffered consequences for advancing the phony Trump-Russia narrative and attempting to cover up her involvement in the hoax.' Grassley's longstanding efforts to provide transparency in the Crossfire Hurricane investigation of Trump is bearing additional fruit, as he is now working with Trump's appointees at the FBI and the Justice Department to expose allegedly questionable behavior from the Obama and Biden administrations. '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,' he wrote. 'I applaud Director Patel, Attorney General Bondi and Deputy Attorney General Blanche for cooperating with my request to declassify this information, which is in the public's interest, and chart a new course for transparency and accountability at the FBI and DOJ.' According to the FBI analysis, Ohr testified she 'would not have any knowledge of what [was] going on in an ongoing investigation' at DOJ and would not 'have any knowledge of the Department of Justice's investigations on Russia.' She also denied she shared her research with her husband, DOJ attorney Bruce Ohr, and Christopher Steele. The investigation revealed that Ohr provided a thumb drive of all her Fusion GPS research to her husband Bruce Ohr, who worked as the Associate Deputy Attorney General at the time of the case and that she was aware of the ongoing effort by the Justice Department to investigate. As a couple, according to the FBI document, Bruce and Nellie Ohr routinely traveled together and associated with similar sources, as she conducted her work with FusionGPS while her husband continued his work at the Justice Department. As a former CIA analyst, Nellie Ohr was heavily engaged in investigating Carter Page, Michael Flynn, and Paul Manafort's engagements and travel with Russia and communications with Russian officials. The investigation revealed that Nellie Ohr also sent her husband Bruce multiple emails with attached documents of her research, who then forwarded the information to the Justice Department. The FBI document provides that in In one July 6, 2016 email, Nellie Ohr emailed her husband an article about Trump's connections to Russia and bolded the following sentence for emphasis. 'If Putin wanted to concoct the ideal candidate to service his purposes, his laboratory creation would look like Donald Trump,' it read. Nellie Ohr also testified she purchased a Ham radio and took classes to obtain a license to operate it for 'emergency communications' that were 'well before' taking a job at Fusion GPS, but subsequent research revealed it took place during her employment, according to the document. Her husband Bruce Ohr was heavily involved with the FBI's Crossfire Hurricane investigation that focused on Trump's connections to Russia. The document reveals that Ohr also communicated with three DOJ Organized Crime and Drug Enforcement Task Force Section (OCDETF) prosecutors on the case. Another email revealed that DOJ prosecutors reached out to Nellie Ohr via her husband Bruce to see if his wife would be interested in participating in an interview on the subject and to affirm there would be no conflict of interest between the two parties. Bruce Ohr forwarded the request to his wife that read, 'Hi honey! I trust you are okay with this? Love, B.' 'Sure!' she replied in an email and then added another email that read, 'Cool.' A handful of emails show that Nellie Ohr worked in close contact with the Department of Justice to provide them information about Trump and Russia, according to the FBI document. In an April 11, 2016 email, Nellie Ohr revealed she had communicated with DOJ prosecutors. 'I enjoyed talking with them and am thinking about potential future conversations,' she wrote.
Yahoo
03-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Federal judge strikes down ‘Shakespearean' Trump order targeting law firm
May 3 (UPI) -- A federal district court judge on Friday struck down an executive order from President Donald Trump that had targeted a law firm that once worked with political rival Hillary Clinton. In March, Trump had signed an executive order calling the actions of the law firm Perkins Coie "dishonest and dangerous" for hiring the opposition research firm Fusion GPS to create a "dossier" that the president alleged was designed to steal the 2016 election. The order had imposed punitive measures such as revoking security clearances, barring the firm from government contracts, and restricting its attorneys' access to federal buildings. U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell began her 102-page critique of Trump's order by calling the president's playbook "Shakespearean" and noting that no American president had ever issued an order like the one Trump had. "The importance of independent lawyers to ensuring the American judicial system's fair and impartial administration of justice has been recognized in this country since its founding era," she said in her ruling. The judge, an Obama appointee, referenced a line from the famed playwright's Henry VI, in which a follower of the power-hungry rebel Jack Cade called for the death of lawyers who "stood as guardians to the rule of law" even under the reign of a king viewed as ineffectual amid widespread economic hardship. Howell called it a "cringe-worthy twist" that Trump's order appeared to target just the lawyers that he does not like, calling his actions "unconstitutional" for particularly violating the First, Fifth and Sixth Amendments. "Using the powers of the federal government to target lawyers for their representation of clients and avowed progressive employment policies in an overt attempt to suppress and punish certain viewpoints, however, is contrary to the Constitution," Howell wrote. Howell said that Trump's attacks on Perkins Coie could cause the firm "irreparable monetary harm" and that it has already suffered "significant losses" after clients had to pull away because of their own work with the government. "Without an injunction, these losses are most certain to continue," Howell wrote. But "because sovereign immunity bars recovery of money damages, these losses could not be adequately compensated by legal remedies." The Trump administration is likely to appeal Howell's decision. "Today, the Court permanently blocked the unlawful Executive Order targeting our firm. This ruling affirms core constitutional freedoms all Americans hold dear, including free speech, due process, and the right to select counsel without the fear of retribution," the firm said in a statement. "We are pleased with this decision and are immensely grateful to those who spoke up in support of our positions. As we move forward, we remain guided by the same commitments that first compelled us to bring this challenge: to protect our firm, safeguard the interests of our clients, and uphold the rule of law."
Express Tribune
03-05-2025
- Business
- Express Tribune
Federal judge strikes down Trump order targeting law firm Perkins Coie
U.S. President Donald Trump walks to deliver remarks on tariffs, in the Rose Garden at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., April 2, 2025. PHOTO:REUTER Listen to article A federal judge on Friday permanently blocked an executive order by former President Donald Trump that targeted prominent law firm Perkins Coie, declaring it unconstitutional and a direct attack on core democratic principles. US District Judge Beryl Howell issued a sweeping 102-page ruling finding the executive order violated the First, Fifth, and Sixth Amendments, including protections for free speech, due process, and the right to counsel. The order had suspended security clearances for Perkins Coie employees, barred its attorneys from federal buildings, and terminated the firm's government contracts. 'This action draws from a playbook as old as Shakespeare,' Howell wrote, referencing the quote 'The first thing we do, let's kill all the lawyers.' She called the executive order 'unprecedented retaliation' against a law firm for representing political opponents. The Trump administration claimed Perkins Coie posed a national security risk due to its connection with Fusion GPS, the research firm behind the 2016 Russia dossier. But Judge Howell rejected that justification, citing Trump's public hostility toward the firm and the sweeping impact of the order — which affected everyone from attorneys to mailroom staff. Perkins Coie was the first law firm formally targeted under Trump's broader campaign against legal entities perceived as hostile. At least three other firms have challenged similar orders and received temporary injunctions. Howell's ruling is the first permanent block. Perkins Coie hailed the decision as a win for the rule of law and legal independence. 'This ruling affirms core constitutional freedoms,' the firm said in a statement. The Justice Department has not yet commented. The ruling is expected to be appealed to the US Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.
Reuters
26-03-2025
- Business
- Reuters
Why target these law firms? For Trump, it's personal
Summary Trump cites his antagonists in law firm executive orders Republican president vows more firms will be targeted Critics call Trump orders a threat to US justice system WASHINGTON, March 26 (Reuters) - President Donald Trump 's executive orders targeting elite U.S. law firms have shared a common theme: his perceived grievance that an attorney linked to the firm has personally done him wrong. The Republican president's latest order took aim at Jenner & Block and one of its former partners, Andrew Weissmann, who served as a lead prosecutor for former Special Counsel Robert Mueller's team that detailed contacts between Trump's campaign and Russians before the 2016 U.S. election. "He's a bad guy," Trump said of Weissmann just before signing the order at the White House on Tuesday. Trump's order against Paul Weiss, which has since been withdrawn as part of a deal with the firm, cited its employment of one-time Manhattan prosecutor Mark Pomerantz, a former Paul Weiss partner who has investigated Trump and his business practices. An earlier order against Perkins Coie included a laundry list of Trump grievances, in particular related to the firm's work for the campaign of Democrat Hillary Clinton, his 2016 election rival, that involved research firm Fusion GPS. Fusion paid a former British spy's company to assemble a dossier outlining alleged Russian financial and personal links to Trump's campaign. "He keeps bringing it up. It's like he doesn't want any of us to forget Fusion GPS," U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell said at a March 12 hearing in Perkins Coie's lawsuit seeking to overturn the order. "He really has a bee in his bonnet about it." Democratic attorneys general from 20 states on Wednesday denounced Trump's attacks on law firms as a "clear threat to our system of justice and our profession." They wrote in an open letter to the American legal community that Trump had "singled out individual attorneys for condemnation because they represented clients who challenged his actions." The attorneys general said the acquiescence of Paul Weiss illustrated the "chilling effect" of Trump's orders on the legal profession. Weissmann and Pomerantz did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Jenner & Block said on Tuesday that it "will pursue all appropriate remedies" to challenge Trump's order. The orders against Jenner & Block, Paul Weiss and Perkins Coie suspended security clearances for their lawyers, restricted their access to government buildings and officials and threatened to cancel federal contracts held by their clients. "President Trump is Making Big Law Great Again!" White House spokesperson Harrison Fields wrote in emailed comments to Reuters, a variation on Trump's "Make America Great Again" slogan. Fields also accused major law firms of using their power and influence "to make our country dangerous and less free." Trump has said law firms "weaponized" the justice system against him and his allies during his first term in office and during Democratic President Joe Biden 's administration. Trump said in a March 9 interview with the Fox News program "Sunday Morning Futures" that his administration has "a lot of law firms that we're going to be going after." Trump in a memorandum last week took a broader swipe at lawyers and law firms, directing the Justice Department to investigate firms that brought cases against the federal government over the past eight years. The memorandum singled out Marc Elias, a longtime lawyer for Democratic politicians and a former Perkins Coie partner, accusing him of "grossly unethical misconduct" in connection with the creation of the Trump-Russia dossier. Elias did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Wednesday. In a post on social media on Tuesday, Elias said Trump's attacks on lawyers were part of an intimidation campaign. "I wear his scorn like a badge of honor," Elias wrote. Covington & Burling was hit with a narrower order last month that cited the firm's representation of Jack Smith, the special counsel who brought two federal criminal cases accusing Trump of mishandling classified documents and taking unlawful actions to try to overturn his 2020 election loss to Biden. Other firms are on high alert, according to a senior partner at a large firm with knowledge of discussions among firm leaders. Lawyers who have worked on Trump prosecutions are scattered across many law firms, as are attorneys who twice helped build articles of impeachment against the Republican president in the House of Representatives. Mueller, a former FBI director who was appointed in 2017 by Republican Justice Department leadership during Trump's first term to oversee the Russian election interference investigation, was a longtime lawyer in Washington at WilmerHale. Attempts to reach Mueller, who has retired from the practice of law, were unsuccessful. A spokesperson for WilmerHale did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Jenner & Block, Perkins Coie, Covington and WilmerHale are among more than a dozen prominent law firms that are representing clients in lawsuits challenging key Trump administration policies. Trump's order aimed at Jenner & Block criticized its legal work supporting the protection of rights for transgender people and immigrants. The order accused the firm of pursuing "partisan goals." Richard Primus, a University of Michigan constitutional law professor who formerly worked at Jenner & Block, said Trump's orders seek to demonstrate that lawyers will suffer if they oppose the president's interests. "They are a revenge program, in part," Primus said. "The administration is going after law firms that the president perceives as having been hostile to him personally." Trump values his own power and interests "and not the healthy functioning of the larger system," Primus added. "He doesn't recognize the category of legitimate opposition," Primus said. "If you are opposed to me, your actions are illegitimate, and you should be shunned, punished and criminalized."
