House Republicans say Ohr interview escalates surveillance concerns

[Judi Lynn]

Source: The Hill


BY OLIVIA BEAVERS AND JACQUELINE THOMSEN - 08/28/18 06:54 PM EDT

House Republicans say the closed-door testimony of Justice Department official Bruce Ohr on Tuesday has heightened their concerns that federal authorities abused surveillance powers during the 2016 presidential election.

GOP lawmakers, trickling in and out of the roughly eight-hour interview, claimed Ohr indicated in his testimony that FBI officials knew more information than they led on in their application to obtain a Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) warrant on former Trump campaign aide Carter Page.

Ohr, whom Republicans described as cooperative in his testimony on Tuesday, has come under increasing GOP scrutiny for his contacts with intelligence firm Fusion GPS and former British spy Christopher Steele, who were behind an opposition research dossier on Trump.

“Thus far, [Ohr] has done nothing but exacerbate my concerns that the FISA process has been abused,” Rep. John Ratcliffe (R-Texas), a House Judiciary Committee member, told The Hill.

Read more: http://thehill.com/homenews/house/404084-house-republicans-say-ohr-interview-escalates-surveillance-concerns

[cstanleytech]

1. They are trying to blow smoke to cover both themselves and Trump. nt

[blue-wave]

2. Spot on

It's all a cover.

[MattP]

3. I'm kind of torn whether a Democrat should have attended or not

Just to know what lies they are telling

[C_U_L8R]

4. The FBI was chasing Russian espionage and sabotage

Of course they knew more than was in the warrants.
They still know more... and it leads to Trump.

[pennylane100]

5. Rachael Maddow just mentioned him on her program.

Apparently his expertise is in going after members of mobs, including RUSSIAN mobs. I wondered why Trump threatened the security clearances of all retired personnel with one exception. When she said it was Bruce Ohr, it suddenly made sense. He wants him silenced. That is not good. I hope the press stays on this story.

[2naSalit]

6. They either want a scapegoat or

which is probably "and" as well, they want the evidence so they can figure out which lies to tell and whom to silence.