RUTHFULLY YOURS

House Intelligence Chairman Devin Nunes on Feb. 20 sent a letter to 11 current and former officials requesting information about their awareness and handling of the dossier produced by Christopher Steele. The former British spy was hired to compile his claims of Donald Trump-Russia collusion by Fusion GPS, the oppo-research firm hired by the Hillary Clinton campaign and Democratic National Committee (DNC). The House Intel letter went to former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, former CIA director John Brennan, and former National Security Adviser Susan Rice, among others.

The debate over the dossier has so far focused on Mr. Steele’s delivery of that campaign document to the FBI, and the bureau’s use of it to obtain an order to surveil a U.S. citizen—Trump adviser Carter Page. But Fusion almost certainly also delivered the dossier to its clients at the Clinton campaign and DNC. Mrs. Clinton maintained close ties to the State Department, and Obama officials were rooting for her election. How wide was the awareness of the dossier at the highest levels of government, and was that information misused?

The House Intel letter asks when the officials became aware of the information in the dossier; how it was presented to them; who did the presenting; when they learned it had been funded by a political entity or the Clinton campaign or DNC; and what actions they took on the basis of the information, including outreach to law enforcement or media.

One former State Department official, Jonathan Winer, has acknowledged serving as a conduit between Mr. Steele, his State Department colleagues and Clinton operative Sidney Blumenthal. Justice Department official Bruce Ohr was also in contact with Mr. Steele during the 2016 campaign, and his wife, Nellie Ohr, worked for Fusion GPS.

A spokesman for former Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid has publicly suggested that Mr. Reid had seen the dossier by October 2016. How many Washington Democrats were in the know, and how was the information used to feed the Trump-Russia collusion narrative?

There’s also the question of whether the dossier explains the Obama Administration’s behavior during the post-election transition, as it embarked on the broad unmasking of U.S. citizens caught in surveillance of foreign officials, the widespread dissemination of intelligence across government departments, and media leaks.

The House committee is giving the officials until Friday to respond. If they refuse, the committee will have to issue subpoenas. Mr. Nunes isn’t asking these individuals, who served at the heights of American power, to divulge privileged information. He’s asking whether they used an unverified and partisan campaign document to target political opponents and undermine a new Administration.