U.K. case reveals stunning new evidence of FBI abuse in Russia probe

President Donald J. Trump walks from the Oval Office to the South Lawn of White House to board Marine One for Joint Base Andrews Maryland Friday, June 5, 2020, to begin his trip to Bangor, Maine. (Official White House photo by Tia Dufour)

A British judge's ruling against former FBI source Christopher Steele, ordering him to pay damages to two Russian businessmen he maligned, produced new incontrovertible evidence that bolsters Justice Department's probe of the Obama administration's Trump-Russia collusion investigation.

The case disclosed the FBI knew immediately that the dossier it used to obtain warrants to spy on the Trump campaign was funded by the Hillary Clinton campaign and did not diclose that fact, Just the News reported.

Further, it found officials at the State Department where Hillary Clinton had served as secretary of state helped Steele bring the dossier to the attention of the Obama administration.

U.S. Attorney John Durham has convened a grand jury to consider charges in his criminal investigation.

Just the News reported British Justice Mark Warby made it clear that Steele disclosed in his own notes that he told his FBI handlers "from the get-go that the dossier's 'ultimate client were (sic) the leadership of the Clinton presidential campaign.'"

Steele, according to evidence in the case, understood the FBI officer he met had cleared his lines with the Assistant Secretary of State, Victoria Nuland, who was close to Clinton.

After Trump won the election, Steele disclosed he gave copies of his dossier to longtime Clinton friend Strobe Talbot, hoping it would reach the top of the State Department.

Steele openly admitted he was leaking information to reporters, and he admitted in court he did little to verify any information in the dossier.

Warby, finding five factually inaccurate, unverified statements in just one part of the dossier, admonished Steele for passing along unverified information.

Top former officials, including former CIA Director John Brennan, are said to be targets of the Durham investigation. But Attorney General William Barr has said he doesn't expect Obama and former Vice President Joe Biden, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, to be subjects of a criminal investigation.

A report from DOJ Inspector General Michael Horowitz found at least 17 "significant" errors or omissions related to the Obama administration's efforts to use the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act provisions against Trump.

WND reported former U.S. attorney Joe DiGenova said the public shouldn't worry about whether or not charges are filed against Obama and Biden.

"Shaming" them will undoubtedly happen, with or without charges, he argued in an interview with Boston radio host Howie Carr.

"I happen to believe that the public shaming of former President Obama and Vice President Biden is far more important than indicting them," he said.

#BREAKING: AG Barr: "As to President Obama and Vice President Obama, whatever their level of involvement, based on the information I have today, I don't expect Mr. Durham's work will lead to a criminal investigation of either man." pic.twitter.com/JFT0aPCMmG

— The Hill (@thehill) May 18, 2020

Solomon previously reported investigators debunked the Steele dossier in January 2017, but Mueller spent nearly two years on his $35 million investigation, described by Trump as a "witch hunt."