Newly declassified documents from a 2019 FBI analysis released on May 28, 2025 show that Nellie Ohr allegedly “knowingly“ provided false testimony under oath to Congress about her actions related to the Crossfire Hurricane investigation. Ohr was a Fusion GPS contractor who provided research and intel in the Crossfire Hurricane investigation. Senator Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, played a central role in pushing for declassification of the analysis.
An analysis of the documents concluded that Ohr’s statements obstructed congressional investigations and violated federal statutes 18 USC §1001 (false statements) and 18 USC §1505 (obstruction of proceedings before departments, agencies, and congressional committees).
In April 2025, Grassley formally requested declassification of “the FBI’s analysis of a congressional criminal referral issued for Nellie Ohr following her false statements to Congress in 2018.” In a statement for the May 28 document release, Grassley lambasted the DOJ for its failure to prosecute Ohr, stating that the DOJ’s inaction undermined public trust in the rule of law. The DOJ failed to act on a 2019 congressional referral for perjury.
Grassley accuses the department of selective enforcement and political bias:
By lying to Congress, Nellie Ohr showed contempt for congressional oversight and the American people. What’s more, the FBI and DOJ’s failure to hold Ohr accountable for appearing to commit multiple felonies and its obstructive conduct against agents that sought additional information reveals the agencies’ deeply disturbing political bias. Ohr never suffered consequences for advancing the phony Trump-Russia narrative and attempting to cover up her involvement in the hoax. Yet time and again, the American justice system has been weaponized against President Trump and his associates with reckless abandon. [snip]
The DOJ’s inaction on Nellie Ohr’s criminal referral — despite the obviously incriminating evidence provided in the FBI’s own analysis — undermines public trust in the rule of law. I applaud Director Patel, Attorney General Bondi and Deputy Attorney General Blanche for cooperating with my request to declassify this information, which is in the public’s interest, and chart a new course for transparency and accountability at the FBI and DOJ.
The newly declassified findings come as little surprise to those who have followed the origins of the Trump-Russia probe. In 2019, American Thinker contributor Daniel John Sobieski cited FBI 302s obtained by Judicial Watch that showed that Bruce and Nellie Ohr were not merely intermediaries, but active participants in efforts to promote the now discredited Steele dossier. Sobieski wrote that the FBI 302s “confirm [that former U.S. associate deputy attorney general] Bruce Ohr and his wife Nellie were not merely passive conduits for the fraudulent Steele Dossier but were active participants in the plot to deny Trump the presidency.”
Between 2015 and 2016, Nellie Ohr worked for Fusion GPS, a political research firm hired through the Clinton campaign’s law firm, Perkins Coie, to investigate potential links between Donald Trump and Russian crime organizations. Her work contributed to the creation of the now-discredited Steele dossier, an opposition research document containing a collection of memos, some of which were integrated into what became the now-debunked Steele Dossier.
The dossier was a key element used to launch the Crossfire Hurricane investigation, the FBI’s counterintelligence probe into alleged Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election. The dossier was also cited in multiple questionable FISA warrant applications against Trump campaign aide Carter Page.
In closed-door congressional testimony in October 2018, Nellie Ohr told lawmakers that her work “was not at all related to the now-famous dossier.” She claimed that her research seemed to be “quite separate,” though she admitted uncertainty, telling Rep. John Ratcliffe (R-Texas) that her work “seem[ed] to be quite separate, but [she didn’t] know for sure.”
A summary from Grassley’s May 28 press release states,
Nellie Ohr may have been involved in drafting aspects of the Steele Dossier and conspired with her husband, Bruce Ohr, to ensure high-level FBI officials received her work product, while Fusion GPS coordinated with media entities to legitimize the FBI’s opening of its now discredited Trump-Russia investigation.”
Despite claiming she did not share her Fusion GPS work with her husband, the FBI analysis found “little distinction” between the Ohrs’ professional and personal communications. Investigators concluded that there was “probable cause to believe that Bruce and Nellie did communicate with each other about their respective activity in furtherance of the Russia-collusion investigations and/or narrative.”
The declassified documents also show Ohr allegedly falsely testified to Congress that she “would not have any knowledge of what [was] going on in an ongoing investigation at DOJ” and would not “have any knowledge of the Department of Justice’s investigations on Russia.”
Key contradictions between Ohr’s testimony and the declassified record include:
Perhaps most damning is the Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation’s “FSB Report,” a Trump oppo research memo (allegedly containing sex videos of Trump and FSB payments) deleted from Fusion GPS co-founder Glenn Simpson’s thumb drive. The deleted files were recovered from Simpson’s thumb drive during review.
According to the declassified documents, the “deleted ‘FSB report’” was not included as part of the Steele Dossier given to the FBI by Bruce Ohr, even though “Crossfire Hurricane documented the FSB Report as being part of the Steele dossier.” The declassified report affirms that the “FSB Report” was entirely fictitious.
Nellie Ohr also drew scrutiny for her use of Ham radio equipment. She told Congress she purchased the device “for emergency communication,” but the May 28 release shows that all six of her training classes and licensing exam occurred during her Fusion GPS employment, raising questions about her intentions to avoid detection.
President Trump signed an executive order to declassify hundreds of Crossfire Hurricane documents on March 25. FBI director Kash Patel turned the requested documents over to House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan. Just the News and The Federalist obtained and published the documents in early April. According to Newsweek, “the published documents do not include files protected from disclosure under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, the disclosure of certain personally identifiable information, or any other materials that must remain classified under law.”
