Southeastern Legal Foundation (SLF) submitted a formal request to the U.S. Office of Special Counsel (OSC) demanding that it launch an investigation into the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), and Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) for withholding and concealing documents from the American people regarding the now-infamous “Steele Dossier” by the offices of James Comey, John Brennan, and James Clapper.
A bombshell whistleblower report that was declassified in July 2025 shows that the FBI, CIA, and ODNI improperly withheld and concealed documents responsive to Freedom of Information Act requests submitted by SLF years ago to expose corruption in the highest levels of office under the Obama Administration. Not only did these agencies rely on the now-debunked Steele Dossier to spy on the 2016 Trump campaign, but they illegally withheld and concealed communications about it from SLF, the courts, and the American people.
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In May 2019, SLF submitted Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests to the FBI, the CIA, and the ODNI as part of its ongoing work to ensure governmental integrity and expose government corruption. In the requests, SLF sought communications about the Steele Dossier among those in the highest levels of office within the intelligence community. The Steele Dossier was a report compiled by members of the intelligence community to justify spying on the 2016 Trump campaign and to put out false information that Trump was colluding with Russia to interfere in the presidential election. Although SLF and many Americans suspected at the time, we now know that the basis for the Dossier was entirely made up and that it was funded by the Clinton campaign.
All three agencies stonewalled SLF’s requests, forcing SLF to file lawsuits against the FBI, CIA, and ODNI in July 2019. After months of litigating, FBI and CIA claimed that they had no responsive documents, while ODNI responded that there was only a single, two-page document relevant to SLF’s request.
Now, in 2025, declassified whistleblower evidence has revealed that there was a lot more to the story. The materials released show that the agencies did, in fact, communicate about and rely on the Steele Dossier to spy on the Trump campaign.
Not only that, but it was SLF’s FOIA requests that caused the whistleblower to state concerns about the use of the Steele Dossier and come forward with the evidence of wrongdoing. Internal emails reveal that ODNI gave its members instructions for how to respond to SLF’s FOIA request. The internal discussions about the Dossier alarmed the whistleblower, who claimed that he or she was intentionally deceived and excluded from discussions about the Dossier and that he or she had documents that were potentially responsive to SLF’s request.
Now, SLF is calling on the OSC to investigate the three agencies for withholding—recklessly or even intentionally—key documents from SLF and the American people. It urges the OSC to take all disciplinary action necessary, up to and including referrals for criminal investigations and ethical violations.