Overview
- Internal emails and an FBI Washington Field Office memo from July 2019 show DOJ Public Integrity and the U.S. Attorney’s Office in D.C. concluded the matter was not predicated for a criminal investigation.
- Sen. Chuck Grassley identified Richard Pilger and J.P. Cooney as the officials who declined to authorize an inquiry into payments tied to Fusion GPS and Christopher Steele.
- After receiving prosecutors’ views, the FBI wrote that it would not seek to open an investigation or even an assessment into the Clinton campaign and DNC reporting.
- Cooney told the FBI proving a willfully false report would be exceedingly difficult because payments were reported as legal services and Marc Elias had disclosed the Perkins Coie–Fusion GPS contract.
- In 2022, the FEC found probable cause of misreporting and levied fines after documenting $849,407 from the DNC and $175,000 from Hillary for America routed through Perkins Coie, and Grassley notes some officials involved later had roles connected to Jack Smith’s Arctic Frost inquiry while DOJ and FBI leaders Pam Bondi and Kash Patel provided the records to his office.