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  "path": "/post/212438/doj-watchdog-release-russia-probe-transcripts-republicans",
  "publishedAt": "2026-06-26T20:19:13.000Z",
  "site": "https://newrepublic.com",
  "tags": [
    "Breaking News",
    "justice",
    "Department of Justice",
    "United States",
    "Russia",
    "Election 2016",
    "Donald Trump",
    "Congress",
    "Senate",
    "Republicans",
    "Republican Party",
    "Chuck Grassley",
    "Ron Johnson",
    "Crossfire Hurricane",
    "Bloomberg Law",
    "found",
    "get paid"
  ],
  "textContent": "Trump’s Department of Justice’s inspector general has handed Senate Republicans highly sensitive interview transcripts concerning its report on the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.\n\nIn response to mounting pressure from Republican Senators Chuck Grassley of Iowa and Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, the DOJ’s inspector general in March began releasing transcripts regarding the FBI’s Crossfire Hurricane investigation, Bloomberg Law reported Friday.\n\nThe DOJ’s inspector general office warned senators about the “potential for a chilling effect on whistleblowing, and on the cooperation of witnesses,” should the contents of the interviews become public, but has no power to actually prevent the release of sensitive information.\n\nThe shocking disclosure comes as the Trump administration and its allies have made clear their interest in uncovering improprieties of the FBI’s original investigation into collusion.\n\nIn 2019, the DOJ’s inspector general found that the FBI’s investigation was dysfunctional and marred by serious errors—but was in no way a biased plot against Trump. Now Republicans are hoping to pore over the raw interviews in the hopes of cherry-picking pieces to malign attorneys and agents, possibly in order to get paid from a future “anti-weaponization” slush fund.\n\nThis latest move indicates the DOJ watchdog’s startling lack of independence in the face of the Trump administration’s political objectives. It also will likely discourage government employees and whistleblowers—who can be sure that their government is not committed to safeguarding their disclosures—from participating in future investigations.",
  "title": "DOJ Watchdog Opens Floodgates With Release of Russia Probe Transcripts"
}