Latest news with #Ohr
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.
Yahoo
05-02-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Iowa refugee and immigrant organization launches magazine to magnify community voices
An Iowa nonprofit coalition headquartered in Des Moines that empowers refugees, immigrants and organizations they lead to improve health care, economic opportunities and education has launched a magazine to empower its own voice and the voices of the people it serves. Henny Ohr, the executive director of Refugee and Immigrant Voices in Action, or RIVA, said it's especially important that the nonprofit do that in the present moment. Part of the reason is name recognition, which Ohr said RIVA still does not have enough of after officially changing its name in 2023 from Ethnic Minorities of Burma Advocacy and Resource Center, or EMBARC. The organization's work has expanded since 2012, when it started helping Burmese refugees as EMBARC. The expansion since is reflected in the ethnic heritage of staff sitting around a table with Ohr at RIVA's office, and in the stories of community leaders and other staff of RIVA and partner organizations across the state featured in the first print edition of its magazine: Afghan, Beninese, Bhutanese, Burmese, Haitian, Latinx, Liberian, Mexican, Micronesian, Saudi, Sudanese, Zambian, and Zimbabwean. But Ohr said the annual print edition of the magazine and its ongoing digitally published stories also will be useful in cutting through some of the rhetoric being used against immigrants and refugees, to instead highlight shared humanity and opportunities for collaboration. "Those we serve are also potential leaders. You get help now so you can help others later. There's this misconception that (immigrants and refugees are) maybe just here to take. We're here to give," Ohr said. RIVA launched the magazine in December. The immigrant and refugee communities RIVA serves want to show to state agencies, federal representatives, nonprofit leaders, schools, the public at large and themselves that they are resources, full of ideas and talent but not necessarily with opportunities to share them, Ohr said. "We're your neighbors. We care about Iowa. We care about our families. We want the same things," she added. Success of the magazine will be measured in the numbers of people who start to support RIVA, want to volunteer or otherwise develop a relationship with the organization, Ohr said. "If more people are willing to listen and have conversations with you, that means you've developed some trust," she said. She also wants the magazine to be a showcase for the work of members and staff, to potentially open more doors to further opportunities for them. The cover of the first print edition has already provided special recognition for the family of one staff member, office coordinator Mya Thway-Saddler. Her father's artwork is on the cover "and I'm really proud of it," Thway-Saddler said. Phillip Sitter covers the suburbs for the Des Moines Register. Phillip can be reached via email at psitter@ or on X at @pslifeisabeauty. This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Iowa refugee and immigrant organization launches magazine
