A former British spy told Ohr, a senior Justice Department lawyer, at a breakfast meeting on July 30, 2016, that Russian intelligence believed it had Donald Trump “over a barrel,” according to multiple people familiar with the encounter. The lawyer, Bruce Ohr, also says he learned that a Trump campaign aide had met with higher-level Russian officials than the aide had acknowledged, the people said. They add to the public understanding of those pivotal summer months as the FBI and intelligence community scrambled to untangle possible connections between the Trump campaign and Russia. Republicans contend the FBI relied excessively on the dossier during its investigation and to obtain a secret wiretap application on Trump campaign aide Carter Page. The breakfast took place amid ongoing FBI concerns about Russian election interference and possible communication with Trump associates.

Source: Washington Post August 31, 2018 15:07 UTC