The FBI and Department of Justice partnered on a secret program aimed at flipping Russian oligarchs with potentially damaging information about the Trump campaign’s alleged involvement with the Kremlin, according to a New York Times report Saturday.
Justice Department official Bruce Ohr worked with the FBI to attempt to turn one of those oligarchs, Oleg V. Deripaska, who is close to the Russian government.
At one point, FBI agents made a suprise, “uninvited” visit at Deripaska’s home in New York and questioned him on whether Paul Manafort, then-chairman of Trump’s campaign, “had served as a link between the campaign and the Kremlin,” the Times reports.
The effort appears to have been unsuccessful, and according to DOJ documents obtained by the New York Times, Deripaska refuted investigator’s theories about collusion between the Kremlin and Trump campaign and organized crime in Russia.
Included in the documents provided to Congress by DOJ, is a note written by Ohr, saying that Deripaska was “almost ready to talk” to U.S. officials about the money that “Manafort stole,” according to the Times.
Ohr has come under fire from the administration and its allies for giving what Trump considers an unfair amount of credibility to the controversial and salacious Steele dossier. Trump has attempted to discredit every aspect of the FBI and DOJ’s investigations into Russian influence and potential ties to his campaign.
