The FBI used the Trump dossier to apply for surveillance warrants against former Trump adviser Carter Page, according to the Department of Justice inspector general. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
Likewise, the federal government is prohibited from hiring contractors that use the law firm, amid a review of all federal contracts associated with Perkins Coie that agency heads will be ordered to terminate to the fullest extent lawfully permitted.
The international law firm represented Hillary Clinton’s campaign and the Democratic National Committee in the 2016 election, and former President Joe Biden after Trump challenged Biden’s win in the 2020 election.
Perkins Coie first came under scrutiny after Marc Elias, the former chair of the firm's political law practice, hired opposition research firm Fusion GPS to conduct opposition research against then-presidential candidate Trump in April 2016 for his opponent, Clinton, and the Democratic National Committee.
Fusion GPS then hired former British intelligence officer Christopher Steele, who composed the so-called "Steele dossier." The document included scandalous and mostly unverified allegations, including details that Trump engaged in sex acts with Russian prostitutes.
CARTER PAGE FISA WARRANT LACKED PROBABLE CAUSE, DOJ ADMITS IN DECLASSIFIED ASSESSMENT
Perkins Coie hired an opposition research firm that hired former British intelligence officer Christopher Steele, who wrote the dossier. (Getty Images)
Trump repeatedly denied allegations included in the dossier, and filed a lawsuit against Orbis Business Intelligence, a company that Steele co-founded. Trump’s legal team claimed that he "suffered personal and reputational damage and distress" as a result of the dossier, but a judge in London pitched the lawsuit in February 2024.
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The dossier first became public in 2017 when BuzzFeed News published it. The Justice Department’s inspector general lambasted the agency and the FBI in 2019 for using the document to make a case in securing surveillance applications against former Trump campaign adviser, Carter Page, as part of the agency’s investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election.
Still, the inspector general determined that no political bias motivated the surveillance of Page or the launching of Russia investigations.
Requests for comment by Perkins Coie were not immediately answered.
Diana Stancy is a politics reporter with Fox News Digital covering the White House.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/trump-cuts-off-federal-resources-law-firm-helped-fuel-2016-russia-hoax