DOJ official with ties to Fusion GPS gets demoted again
Bruce Ohr loses his high-level post over the apparent conflict with the firm behind the Trump dossier; Catherine Herridge goes in-depth for 'Special Report.'
A Justice Department official demoted late last year for concealing his meetings with the men behind the anti-Trump “dossier” has been stripped of yet another title, Fox News has learned.
Bruce Ohr is no longer head of the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force.
Separately, sources familiar with the discussions tell Fox News that the Justice Department is expected to comply with demands from the House Intelligence Committee to provide Ohr for an interview. He is scheduled to visit the committee on Jan. 17, sources said.
Fox News first reported in December that Ohr had been demoted from the position of associate deputy attorney general, after it was revealed he had conducted undisclosed meetings with dossier author Christopher Steele and Glenn Simpson of Fusion GPS, the opposition research firm that produced the salacious document.
Bruce Ohr has been stripped of yet another title at the DOJ. (AP)
Fox News also reported that his wife Nellie Ohr worked for Fusion GPS, specifically on research related to the dossier.
At the time of his demotion, DOJ officials told Fox News that Bruce Ohr had been "wearing two hats," and would fall back to his other title and portfolio – as head of OCDETF.
Now, Ohr has been stripped of that role as well; former deputy director Thomas Padden is now acting director. It is unclear where Ohr has landed, only that he is still an employee with the Department of Justice.
One DOJ insider joked that Ohr might end up in “one of those offices without a phone.”
Fox News has also confirmed that Bruce Ohr, as the head of OCDETF, was directly involved with Project Cassandra, the interagency investigation spearheaded by the DEA that tracked a massive international drug and money laundering scheme allegedly run by Hezbollah.
The project recently was the subject of a critical and lengthy Politico report looking at how the Obama administration may have hampered the investigation. Those closest to Project Cassandra, including Derek Maltz, the now-retired supervisory DEA agent who was a major player in the operation, claim the project and its potential prosecutions were sidelined by senior Obama administration officials who didn't want to upset Iran in the lead-up to the historic nuclear deal with Tehran in 2015.
Attorney General Jeff Sessions has promised to look into what happened with the investigation.
He said in a statement last month: "While I am hopeful that there were no barriers constructed by the last admission to allowing DEA agents to fully bring all appropriate cases under Project Cassandra, this is a significant issue for the protection of Americans. We will review these matters and give full support to investigations of violent drug trafficking organizations."
Sources close to the attorney general told Fox News that he was recently made aware of Ohr's role in Project Cassandra and that Sessions is personally involved in the review and frequently asks for updates.
