Word is out that Inspector General Michael Horwitz’s report totally exonerates the FBI of any wrongdoing or political bias, just a few mistakes here and there that could have happened to anyone.
We’ve already posted great threads by The Federalist’s Sean Davis and Mollie Hemingway going beyond the summary and breaking down the IG report, making it clear there’s much more to the report that the “exoneration” of the intelligence community. It seems anyone who goes into the actual report can find plenty of abuses of the FISA process, most revolving around the bogus Steele dossier that was actually opposition research paid for by the DNC and the Hillary Clinton campaign.
Republican Fred Fleitz was called a neo-Nazi by The Washington Monthy — a claim it was forced to retract. He’s also president of the Center for Security Policy and also a former chief of staff for the National Security Council, and he’s still working his way through the report, but he too finds it far from an exoneration.
1/ Pretty good @NRO article by @TJHoonhout, but a close read of the IG report provides many reasons to believe the DOJ and FBI investigations of the Trump campaign WERE politically motivated.https://t.co/IK5S6l2Q3T @securefreedom @realDonaldTrump
— Fred Fleitz (@FredFleitz) December 9, 2019
2/ For example, the report notes on p. X, on errors in the 1st Page FISA application and the failure to inform the FISA court of problems and biases of the Steele Dossier which was used in this application, DOJ and FBI officials did not fully cooperate with the IG investigation. pic.twitter.com/QTkqpoT45N
— Fred Fleitz (@FredFleitz) December 9, 2019
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“Although we found no evidence that [James] Comey had been made aware of these issues … multiple factors made it difficult for us to precisely determine the extent of FBI leadership’s knowledge.” The inability to refresh Comey’s recollection? We thought he was the guy who sat in his car and wrote up memos of every meeting on his laptop.
3/ This is why the IG could say it did not find "documentary or testimonial evidence" of misconduct or political bias by FBI or DOJ officials. Their cooperation was limited and the IG did not speak to Comey.
— Fred Fleitz (@FredFleitz) December 9, 2019
And of course, Comey is out there claiming “it was all lies” and “there was no spying on the campaign.”
4/ In addition, on pp 413 and 414, there was clear language that concerning erroneous and misleading FISA warrant requests, DOJ and FBI officers provided explanations that the IG did not regard as satisfactory or accurate. pic.twitter.com/g59oYPa0m0
— Fred Fleitz (@FredFleitz) December 9, 2019
“Although we did not find documentary or testimonial evidence of intentional misconduct … we also did not receive satisfactory explanations for the errors or missing information.”
5/ In my view, these excerpts and other parts of the report indicate the DOJ IG knew it was being lied to about misconduct and political bias but did not find evidence to prove this because DOJ and FBI officers were evasive and did not provide truthful and forthcoming responses.
— Fred Fleitz (@FredFleitz) December 9, 2019
6/ I'm still reading the DOJ IG report, but from what I've seen so far, it provides a devastating account of FBI and DOJ misconduct and their politicized investigations of a presidential campaign. I am hopeful the Durham report will provide more definitive conclusions on this.
— Fred Fleitz (@FredFleitz) December 9, 2019
We’re all hoping the Durham report clears all this up once and for all.
Of course they were politically motivated! Their bias and their zeal to get Trump and his campaign led them to ignore procedures and to omit any exculpatory info that might prevent them from getting the FISA warrants.
— PapaBear (@av8orfl) December 9, 2019
It seems that anyone actually reading the report and not just the summary is coming away with a lot of concerns.
Related:
This guy: James Comey's IG report conclusion is that the FBI's 'mistakes' were 'just good people trying to protect America' https://t.co/xb9etubPqN
— Twitchy Team (@TwitchyTeam) December 9, 2019
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