The former MI6 intelligence officer authored the so-called “Steele Dossier,” commissioned by the opposition research firm Fusion GPS and funded largely by Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign through the Democratic National Committee. The dossier alleged ties between then-Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump and the Russian government.

Grassley and Graham told the DOJ Friday they had reason to believe Steele lied to US authorities about his contacts with reporters regarding information in the dossier, according to the New York Times. They urged the DOJ to investigate Steele, who has declined to testify before the congressional committees looking into allegations of Trump’s “collusion” with Russia, which appear to be largely based on his dossier.

The cover letter made public by Grassley and Graham is dated Thursday, and refers Steele to the DOJ for “investigation of potential violations of 18 U.S.C. § 1001,” for statements he made “regarding his distribution of information contained” in the dossier. The particular statute refers to knowingly making false or misleading statements to federal authorities.

Steele had “repeated contacts” with FBI counterintelligence officials before and after the elections, according to the Times. The FBI even considered paying the former British spy as a source, but “backed off the idea” after the 35-page document was made public in January 2017.

The dossier paints a picture of a conspiracy between the Russian government and Trump to boost his candidacy and hurt Clinton, including corrupt business dealings and salacious claims of Trump’s encounter with prostitutes in Moscow hotels.

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