Rep. Devin Nunes, R-Calif., said on Sunday that he may send another criminal referral to the Justice Department.
During an interview on Fox News, Nunes said notes about a meeting between Trump dossier author Christopher Steele and a State Department official were withheld from the House Intelligence Committee during its investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election that wrapped up last year.
“It’s likely now, as we do our investigation as to why we didn’t get this information that we’ve just been discussing from the State Department two years ago when we should have received it, there could be another referral coming on obstruction a congressional investigation,” he said.
Newly released notes from an Oct. 11, 2016, meeting between Steele and former Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Kathleen Kavalec cast doubt on the reliability of his dossier and called into question the information provided to the court in the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act application that was submitted later that month against onetime Trump campaign adviser Carter Page. The notes, which Kavalec is believed to have emailed to the FBI in mid-October, indicate that Steele knew he had been hired by Hillary Clinton’s campaign and the Democratic National Committee and had been told they wanted his findings made public prior to the 2016 election on Nov. 8.
The Daily Caller reported the notes show Steele identified Russian sources, including former Russian foreign intelligence director Vyacheslav Trubnikov and Vladislav Surkov, an aide to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Nunes said Clinton’s campaign and the DNC “plainly colluded” with the Russians to receive and disseminate false information about Trump.
Last month, Nunes notified the Justice Department of “several potential violations of the law” in eight criminal referrals as part of an investigation into origins of the Trump-Russia investigation. Rep. Mark Meadows, R-N.C., sent a criminal referral to the Justice Department citing concerns that Nellie Ohr, the wife of Justice Department official Bruce Ohr, “knowingly provided false testimony” to lawmakers. Both Ohrs remain under intense scrutiny for their ties to Steele and the opposition research firm who hired him, Fusion GPS.
The notes from the Steele-Kavalec meeting came out after special counsel Robert Mueller found no criminal conspiracy between the Trump campaign and the Russian government. The House Intelligence Committee found no Trump-Russia collusion in its assessment.
Attorney General William Barr has tasked U.S. Attorney John Durham from Connecticut with reviewing the origins of the federal Russia investigation.
