UPDATE: Senate Judiciary Committee Democrats Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) and Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) react to Grassley and Graham:
Top Dem on Senate judiciary committee @SenFeinstein says she was not consulted by Grassley/Graham about referral of Christopher Steele to DOJ for investigation. She calls referral "unfortunate" & another effort to deflect from what should be top priority: Russia's influence op.
— Ryan Lucas (@relucasz) January 5, 2018
Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA), chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and Senator Lindsay Graham (R-SC), a member of that committee, are going after former British intelligence officer Christopher Steele, whose memos became the much-discussed Trump dossier.
They are referring him to the Justice Department for what they say are potential violations regarding inconsistencies Steele made in statements provided to authorities. “I don’t take lightly making a referral for criminal investigation. But, as I would with any credible evidence of a crime unearthed in the course of our investigations, I feel obliged to pass that information along to the Justice Department for appropriate review,” Grassley said in a statement.
NYT:
The decision by Mr. Grassley and Mr. Graham to single out the former intelligence officer behind the dossier — and not anyone who may have taken part in the Russian interference — was certain to infuriate Democrats and raise the stakes in the growing partisan battle over the investigations into Mr. Trump, his campaign team and Russia.
The NYT notes it was the DOJ that gave Senator Grassley information on Steele's meetings with the FBI so a criminal referral back to the DOJ seems odd.
It was not clear why, if a crime is apparent in the F.B.I. reports that were reviewed by the Judiciary Committee, the Justice Department had not moved to charge Mr. Steele already.
The circumstances under which Mr. Steele is alleged to have lied were unclear, as much of the referral was classified.
(...)
Anyone can make a criminal referral to the Justice Department, which is not obligated to take up the matter. But a recommendation from a senior senator who runs the committee that has oversight of the department comes with added weight.
The Justice Department had no immediate comment on the referral. But Fusion [GPS, the firm that commissioned Steele] characterized the recommendation to charge Mr. Steele as a smear and an attempt to further muddy the inquiry into Russia’s interference.
Grassley's move comes at the same time he has been engaged in a back-and-forth with Fusion GPS' founders Glenn Simpson and Peter Fritsch who want the Senator to make their testimony public and who wrote a NYT op-ed earlier this week accusing Republican members of Congress of being disingenuous with the public and ignoring key leads in the Russia investigation.
Legal experts say the criminal referral back to DOJ is suspicious.
"A referral that offered evidence of lying to Congress would be more likely to give the FBI something new and would be more likely to carry some weight," said William Yeomans, a former deputy assistant attorney general who spent 26 years at the Justice Department.
"If they are giving the FBI information it already has that suggests Steele lied to the FBI, the referral has little import. The bottom line is that the referral only matters to the extent it gives the FBI relevant evidence or otherwise unknown and credible allegations," he said. "Otherwise, it should be viewed as a political act."
Former federal prosecutor Renato Mariotti largely agreed.
"This is either a PR stunt or an attempt by Senators who control DOJ funding to undermine the investigation," Mariotti said in an interview. "Either way, it's problematic, because it seems like an attempt to influence DOJ charging decisions."
Republican Senators Recommend Charges Against Author of Trump Dossier (NYT)
Grassley, Graham Refer Dossier Author Christopher Steele for Criminal Investigation (Daily Beast)
Senate Judiciary Republicans refer dossier author Chris Steele to DOJ for criminal investigation (Business Insider)