This is a subject that is near and dear to my heart. The right has been ecstatic that the FBI’s 302’s on Bruce Ohr have finally been released. I’m happy also but it’s important to understand what the 302’s are. Just like the Comey notes memorializing his meetings with Trump they are hearsay. They have zero evidentiary value. FBI agents interview people and then write up their version of what was said. The individual interviewed doesn’t see or approve of their version of the interview. Thus as I said previously, they are free to put anything they want in the 302’s or leave out anything they want.

My point is that we should not get overly excited about the information contained in these documents. I’m sure that they are most likely fairly accurate but in the Russian collusion hoax I am skeptical of everything.

The reason that this is near and dear to my heart is because I had an ongoing disagreement with the IG investigators in my agency. They did interviews and then wrote up what they thought was said. I told them that it was virtually useless to me. They said if it was good enough for the FBI it should be good enough for me. I explained to them the difference between the FBI and them. In the federal criminal justice system, you must get an indictment to prosecute an individual and that means you have to go before a grand jury and present evidence under oath that is transcribed. 302’s are never introduced in judicial proceedings. They are not admissible because they are rank hearsay. In the administrative world there are no indictments. So all you have is at best a he said she said stand-off. I explained this to two IG investigators and they said that it should be good enough and then I pulled out one of their interview notes and they couldn’t agree on what it meant. After that they started transcribing interviews.