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Inspector General Michael Horowitz’s report about the FBI’s investigation into President Trump’s 2016 campaign has been released. As we go through the 400+ pages, there is plenty to analyze and digest. In the meantime, we’ll look at the reactions of two of the most important people moving forward with the “investigation of the investigators,” Attorney General William Barr and U.S. Attorney John Durham.
They didn’t share Horowitz’s forgiving nature towards how the investigation was handled.
NEW: John Durham says they "do not agree with some of the report’s conclusions as to predication and how the FBI case was opened.” pic.twitter.com/GfKezyK9kV
— Ryan J. Reilly (@ryanjreilly) December 9, 2019
The report, which details multiple occurrences of lies, manipulations, and corrupted results leading to more corrupted results, seems to be a case of many wrongdoings culminating in a lackluster conclusion. It’s reminiscent of former FBI Director James Comey’s initial report on Hillary Clinton’s email server scandal in which he detailed pretty horrendous infractions before concluding it wasn’t so bad after all. At the time, it was the ultimate joke to Republicans who listened to him berate the former Secretary of State, then decide not to recommend charges. Now, that joke may have been superseded by the latest attempt by a DoJ official to downplay wrongdoing.
Barr released a statement that lambastes the conclusions:
AG Barr: IG Report Makes Clear the FBI Launched an Invasive Investigation on Thinnest of Suspicions
“The Inspector General’s report now makes clear that the FBI launched an intrusive investigation of a U.S. presidential campaign on the thinnest of suspicions that, in my view, were insufficient to justify the steps taken. It is also clear that, from its inception, the evidence produced by the investigation was consistently exculpatory. Nevertheless, the investigation and surveillance was pushed forward for the duration of the campaign and deep into President Trump’s administration. In the rush to obtain and maintain FISA surveillance of Trump campaign associates, FBI officials misled the FISA court, omitted critical exculpatory facts from their filings, and suppressed or ignored information negating the reliability of their principal source,” Barr said. “The Inspector General found the explanations given for these actions unsatisfactory. While most of the misconduct identified by the Inspector General was committed in 2016 and 2017 by a small group of now-former FBI officials, the malfeasance and misfeasance detailed in the Inspector General’s report reflects a clear abuse of the FISA process.”
Barr then explained reform of the FISA system and how agents use it is important to FBI Director Christopher Wray, who will be working to fix the problems found by the Inspector General.
“FISA is an essential tool for the protection of the safety of the American people. The Department of Justice and the FBI are committed to taking whatever steps are necessary to rectify the abuses that occurred and to ensure the integrity of the FISA process going forward,” he continued. “No one is more dismayed about the handling of these FISA applications than Director Wray. I have full confidence in Director Wray and his team at the FBI, as well as the thousands of dedicated line agents who work tirelessly to protect our country. I thank the Director for the comprehensive set of proposed reforms he is announcing today, and I look forward to working with him to implement these and any other appropriate measures.”
Journalist Mike Cernovich detailed some of the infractions he found in the report on Twitter:
On Bruce Ohr teaming up with Democrat wife to attempt a coup against Trump
– "Ohr displayed a lapse in judgment by not availing himself of the process described in the ethics rules to consult with the Department ethics official about his involvement in the
investigation."— Mike Cernovich (@Cernovich) December 9, 2019
Steele leaked to the media because he was upset that Comey re-opened an investigation into Hillary Clinton.
Steele, a foreign agent working for the FBI, admitted to attempting to influence the election. pic.twitter.com/gbuOf2PMUN
— Mike Cernovich (@Cernovich) December 9, 2019
Steele was upset that the FBI had announced its election into President Trump.
There can be no question
A foreign agent attempted to influence the U.S. election
– Christopher Steele pic.twitter.com/r7suL3du48
— Mike Cernovich (@Cernovich) December 9, 2019
IG Report is damning in its euphemistic language.
Not "accurate" or "supported" are terms for, "Yeah they lied under oath but we can't say that." pic.twitter.com/E6995uukH7
— Mike Cernovich (@Cernovich) December 9, 2019
Oftentimes the inferences in an investigation or the report associated with it are damning or not based on the biases of the person reading it. But it’s conspicuous that many on the left are quick to say “case closed” without offering insights. It’s as if they, too, see the challenges of what the report indicates and are ready to get the focus back on impeachment.
Comments from the right have been less forgiving. What they’re reading from the report as well as Barr’s and Durham’s statements is that the conclusions were downplayed for unknown reasons, but the report itself gives plenty of fodder for debate and questions that still need to be answered.
BIG STORY: People will be held accountable
Barr: IG Investigation Reveals 'FBI Launched an intrusive investigation' of A Presidential Campaign https://t.co/tsilBa6yzI via @SaraCarterDC— Sara A. Carter (@SaraCarterDC) December 9, 2019
BIG: Steele dossier was "central and essential" to the FBI's FISA applications, IG says, undercutting a key Democratic talking point. https://t.co/8q7cec4FyY
— Chuck Ross (@ChuckRossDC) December 9, 2019
One possible reason IG did not find wrongdoing in Page wiretap application: Poor memories at FBI. pic.twitter.com/bSQ6h2f9Gs
— Byron York (@ByronYork) December 9, 2019
IG excoriates FBI conduct in Russia probe, concludes FISA court was misled. AG Barr says report substantiates 'clear abuse of FISA process'https://t.co/fETbHf5tFk
— John Solomon (@jsolomonReports) December 9, 2019
Page 361: MAJOR FISA abuse.
IG identified "numerous serious factual errors and omissions in the applications … that undercut certain allegations in the FISA applications."
They knowingly used bad information to surveil American citizens in the Trump campaign.
Wow.
— Mark Meadows (@RepMarkMeadows) December 9, 2019
No sane person is reading this IG Report right now and wondering anything other than ??how in the hell did this media/FBI symbiote think they were going to get away with this? Even a generous reading of the report is breathtakingly awful for our country.
— Dan Bongino (@dbongino) December 9, 2019
IG found re: Dep. Asst. AG Ohr’s involvement:
-Ohr committed “consequential errors in judgement” by not telling supervisors about contacts with Steele/Simpson
-Ohr committed a “lapse of judgement” with ethics rules
-Ohr serving as a “conduit” b/t FBI and Steele was problematic pic.twitter.com/xXaC2sDgh6— Rep. Jim Jordan (@Jim_Jordan) December 9, 2019
There were a whopping 17 significant “inaccuracies and omissions” in the four FISA warrant applications.
Here they are:https://t.co/adZ2HcmJST
— Ashe Schow (@AsheSchow) December 9, 2019
Crystal clear from the IG Report that the Trump investigation was opened because of Alexander Downer
— Jack Posobiec ?? (@JackPosobiec) December 9, 2019
Durham, who has more info than IG, says he disagrees that there was no problem with FBI's decision to begin a spy op against @realDonaldTrump. https://t.co/dDhKHeRp6F
— Tom Fitton (@TomFitton) December 9, 2019
IG report says FBI failed to disclose that Carter Page was an "operational contact" for another U.S. agency, which gave him a "positive assessment."
Page tells me the agency is CIA. https://t.co/y2HOpa2CxT
— Chuck Ross (@ChuckRossDC) December 9, 2019
So much of the controversy boils down to discrepancies between what seems to be exculpatory evidence discovered by the FBI and the information they provided in their FISA applications. It seemed as if the investigation itself was perpetuated despite multiple reasons for them to believe there was nothing to investigate. As it turned out after over two years of spying by the FBI and investigating by Robert Mueller, there really was nothing to see.
Fox News contributor and Senior Editor at The Federalist Mollie Hemingway had an extended thread in which she picked apart the report.
IG reminds that it did "did not analyze all of the decisions in the Crossfire Hurricane investigation," but had a more limited scope.
— Mollie (@MZHemingway) December 9, 2019
Massive counterintel investigation against political campaign of opposing party was started solely on tip from foreign gov't, nothing else, IG says. W/in days, 4 campaign officials targeted, picked because they'd been to Russia or talked to Russians. Wow does this look flimsy.
— Mollie (@MZHemingway) December 9, 2019
IG says he's "concerned" about investigation handling given "constitutionally protected activity occurring
during a national presidential campaign." Also "concerned" about "intrusive investigative techniques that could
impact constitutionally protected activity."— Mollie (@MZHemingway) December 9, 2019
(It is perhaps worth noting that public reporting from recent years shows that US officials did talk to Russia about the alleged efforts but not the Trump campaign itself.)
— Mollie (@MZHemingway) December 9, 2019
IG previously reported (contrary to some claims recently made in media) and states again that texts were "not only indicative of a biased state of mind but, even more seriously, impl[y] a willingness to take official action to impact [Trump's] electoral prospects."
— Mollie (@MZHemingway) December 9, 2019
IG records Priestap claim that decision to keep probe at HQ instead of the traditional field office was done to prevent unauthorized disclosure to media. (Leaks from intel officials about Russia collusion hoax began in Fall of 2016 and continued through today.)
— Mollie (@MZHemingway) December 9, 2019
Spying "implicated constitutionally protected activity," but IG says wasn't done "solely" to monitor opposition party's campaign so it's fine. IG remarkably nonplussed, though will admit concern activity could have led to "incidental receipt of sensitive campaign information."
— Mollie (@MZHemingway) December 9, 2019
IG notes, mildly, this bombshell: some info FBI had "was inconsistent with, or undercut, the allegations contained in the FISA applications to support probable cause and, in some instances, resulted in inaccurate information being included in the applications."
— Mollie (@MZHemingway) December 9, 2019
FBI wanted to get FISA warrant on Papadopoulos, too, but were constrained. "the FBI had no information that Papadopoulos was being directed by the Russians." Also decided against FISAs on Flynn and Manafort.
— Mollie (@MZHemingway) December 9, 2019
"In August 2016, Page made statements to an FBI CHS that, if
true, were in tension with the reporting the FBI received subsequently from Steele," but Page's statements were kept hidden.— Mollie (@MZHemingway) December 9, 2019
IG says Steele dossier "played a central and essential role" in decision to seek wiretap on Page. "FISA application drew heavily, although not entirely, upon the Steele reporting to support the government's position that Page was an agent of a foreign power."
— Mollie (@MZHemingway) December 9, 2019
IG accepts claim that allegations need not be corroborated before seeking to spy on U.S. citizen. Source merely needs to be vetted. Steele's actual sources were unidentified so they claimed to vet Steele. IG says claims about Steele were "overstated and not approved."
— Mollie (@MZHemingway) December 9, 2019
(Steele had been secretly hired by the Democratic National Committee and Hillary Clinton campaign to develop the Russia dossier for dissemination to media and government officials.)
— Mollie (@MZHemingway) December 9, 2019
"lack of satisfactory explanations for these failures" and "continuous failure to reassess the factual assertions supporting probable cause in the FISA applications as the investigation proceeded and information was obtained
raising significant questions about the Steele" dossier— Mollie (@MZHemingway) December 9, 2019
Requirement that "both an agent and a supervisory agent verify, with supporting documentation" every piece of information in FISA application was "not met with regard to any of the four Carter Page FISA applications."
— Mollie (@MZHemingway) December 9, 2019
2) falsely claimed Steele's prior reporting had been "corroborated and used in criminal proceedings," which was neither true nor approved by the FBI agent for inclusion. In fact it hadn't been used and mot of his reporting was notably not corroborated.
— Mollie (@MZHemingway) December 9, 2019
3) Omitted information relevant to the reliability of a Steele source who even Steele himself admitted was a "boaster" and an "egoist" who engages in "embellishment."
— Mollie (@MZHemingway) December 9, 2019
5) Omitted Papadopoulos's statements to FBI informant denying that anyone associated with the Trump campaign was
collaborating with Russia or with outside groups like WikiLeaks in the release of emails.— Mollie (@MZHemingway) December 9, 2019
Abuses of power for political reasons are rife throughout the report. Barr, Durham, and the American people are right to be concerned by what the IG discovered, as well as disagreeing with his belief it was unbiased. The bias is unambiguous.
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