#New FBI documents show early lack of evidence for Trump-Russia claims

Freshly declassified FBI documents show that agency leadership knew early on that the dossier they used to pursue an investigation of President Trump did not support their theory that he colluded with Russia during his presidential campaign.

According to the papers, released by the Senate Judiciary Committee on Friday, disgraced agent Peter Strzok and his bosses were aware in January 2017 that the “Steele dossier” produced by a former MI6 agent was based only on rumors and third-hand accounts.

The revelations put Strzok and FBI bosses “in deep legal jeopardy in my view,” Senate Judiciary Committee chairman Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) tweeted Friday.

The lack of direct evidence for ex-spy Christopher Steele’s allegations meant that they should not have been used in a warrant to snoop on Trump campaign aide Carter Page, Graham said.

But the FBI continued to rely on Steele’s report to twice renew the Page warrant and as a basis for Robert Mueller’s special counsel investigation.

“These documents, which I have long sought, tell a damning story … behind the corrupt nature of the FBI’s investigation into the Trump campaign in 2016 and beyond,” Graham added.

Trump last week called for Steele to be extradited to the US to face charges after a British court ruled his collusion allegations violated UK privacy laws.

Federal prosecutor John Durham is expected to release his report on the origins of the Trump-Russia probe — and perhaps hand down indictments — by the end of the summer, Department of Justice spokeswoman Kerri Kupec said this week.

“Obviously, this is a criminal investigation. The goal is not a report,” Kupec told Fox News. “But certainly, there is a story to be told there. The American people deserve resolution, and frankly … justice needs to be restored.”