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ICYMI: Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Kathleen Kavalec cited Steele in emails with Ohr AFTER flagging credibility issues to FBI, docs reveal
foxnews.com/politics/state…
foxnews.com/politics/state…
in October 2016, Kavalec had met with Steele and documented his political motivations in writing -- particularly that Steele's client was "keen" to see his anti-Trump materials "come to light" prior to the election.
Kavelec forwarded her written notes, in which she also pointed out that some of Steele's claims were apparently false, to a senior FBI executive.
Despite Kavalec's concerns, the FBI used Steele's information to obtain a Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) warrant targeting former Trump campaign adviser Carter Page just weeks later.
The email correspondence between Ohr and Kavalec highlighted Steele's influence in the DOJ and State Department even as concerns about his reliability mounted, and shed new light on a pivotal period in federal authorities' probe of the Trump team.
On Nov. 21, 2016, Kavalec began by thanking Ohr for stopping by to discuss the OCDETF (Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force), then added: "...below are a couple of links to the story I mentioned."
The first was a Mother Jones piece entitled, "A Major Russian-American Oil Magnate Is Putting Big Money Behind Trump’s Campaign." The second was an OpenSecrets article, "Russian-born oil magnate gives big to Trump Victory."
The articles reported that Russian-American oil magnate Simon Grigorievich Kukes had donated $150,000 to the Trump campaign and a related committee, his first donations in a federal election campaign.
Ohr responded: "Thank you for taking the time to meet with us. I really hope we can get something going here." Ohr did not specify exactly what he meant.
"This is very interesting -- I may have heard about him from Tom Firestone as well, but I can't recall..." Ohr continued.
"This is very interesting -- I may have heard about him from Tom Firestone as well, but I can't recall..." Ohr continued.
"We will take another look at this. Thanks again, and I look forward to seeing everyone at the next meeting."
In a follow-up email, Kevalec said she was "re-looking" at her notes from her October 2016 meeting with Steele, whose anti-Trump views are now widely known.
In a follow-up email, Kevalec said she was "re-looking" at her notes from her October 2016 meeting with Steele, whose anti-Trump views are now widely known.
“I see Chris [Steele] said [Simon] Kukes has [sic] some connection to Serge Millian," Kevalec wrote to Ohr. Millian is a Russian businessman and a purported source for the Steele dossier. (Democrat collusion with Russians to affect the outcome of the election).
On Nov. 1, 2016, the FBI fired Steele as a source, citing his leaks to the news media.
But the FBI had already relied on much of Steele’s work to pursue a FISA warrant against Page in October 2016.
But the FBI had already relied on much of Steele’s work to pursue a FISA warrant against Page in October 2016.
And emails previously uncovered by Judicial Watch revealed that Ohr remained in regular contact with Steele even after he was fired by the FBI as a source -- effectively providing Steele a back channel to reach the FBI and Justice Department.
Ohr's own meetings with Steele in 2016 were shared by Ohr with his expansive circle of contacts inside the department -- including senior FBI leadership and officials later assigned to Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation.
