Via Fox News:
Two top Republican senators have formally recommended that the Justice Department and FBI investigate the author of the controversial anti-Trump “dossier,” in the first known criminal referral from Congress as part of lawmakers’ Russia probes.
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, and Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., made the referral in a Jan. 4-dated letter to Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein and FBI Director Christopher Wray. The move ramps up congressional Republicans’ investigation of the salacious document and those involved in creating it, as Special Counsel Robert Mueller continues to probe Russian meddling in the 2016 election and possible collusion with Trump associates.
The dossier was authored by former British intelligence agent Christopher Steele, who was hired by opposition research firm Fusion GPS. In their letter, the GOP lawmakers cited potential violations for false statements “the Committee has reason to believe Mr. Steele made regarding his distribution of information contained in the dossier.”
They cited communications with “multiple U.S. news outlets.”