We’ve been reading a LOT of different opinions on the much-anticipated release of IG Horowitz’s report.
And you know what they say opinions are like …
Yeah. It’s been ridiculously bad between the media spinning this like some strange win for the FBI and Comey even taking a victory lap. All of this being said, if you want to be informed about what the report really says and what it really means this thread from Kimberley Strassel is for you.
1) Key findings of Horowitz report:
–Yup, IG said FBI hit threshold for opening an investigation. But also goes out of its way to note what a "low threshold" this is. Durham's statement made clear he will provide more info for Americans to make a judgment on reasonableness.— Kimberley Strassel (@KimStrassel) December 10, 2019
2) The report is triumph for former House Intel Chair Devin Nunes, who first blew the whistle on FISA abuse. The report confirms all the elements of the February 2018 Nunes memo, which said dossier was as an "essential" part of applications, and FBI withheld info from FISA court
— Kimberley Strassel (@KimStrassel) December 10, 2019
3)Conversely, report is an excoriation of Adam Schiff and his "memo" of Feb 2018. That doc stated that "FBI and DOJ officials did NOT abuse the [FISA] process" or "omit material information." Also claimed FBI didn't much rely on dossier.
— Kimberley Strassel (@KimStrassel) December 10, 2019
In other words, Adam Schiff was and is full of Schiff.
You won’t see many in the media reporting on this lie because it casts even more doubt on the entire impeachment sham since he’s the bug-eyed face of the entire thing.
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But yeah, he saw the same docs …
4)In fact, IG report says dossier played "central and essential role" in getting FISA warrants. Schiff had access to same documents as Nunes, yet chose to misinform the public. This is the guy who just ran impeachment proceedings.
— Kimberley Strassel (@KimStrassel) December 10, 2019
He chose to misinform us then and he’s choosing to misinform us NOW.
5) Report is a devastating indictment of Steele, Fusion GPS and the "dossier." Report finds that about the only thing FBI ever corroborated in that doc were publicly available times, places, title names. Ouch.
— Kimberley Strassel (@KimStrassel) December 10, 2019
Wow.
This is the FBI.
6)IG finds 17 separate problems with FISA court submissions, including FBI's overstatement of Steele's credentials. Also the failure to provide court with exculpatory evidence and issues with Steele's sources and additional info it got about Steele's credibility.
— Kimberley Strassel (@KimStrassel) December 10, 2019
Imagine thinking it’s a win for the American public to think you’re just too stupid to do actually do your jobs.
7) Every one of these "issues" is a story all on its own. Example: The FBI had tapes of Page and Papadopoulos making statements that were inconsistent with FBI's own collusion theories. They did not provide these to the FISA court.
— Kimberley Strassel (@KimStrassel) December 10, 2019
Did not provide them.
Why?
8) Another example: FBI later got info from professional contacts with Steele who said he suffered from "lack of self awareness, poor judgement" and "pursued people" with "no intelligence value." FBI also did not tell the court about these credibility concerns.
— Kimberley Strassel (@KimStrassel) December 10, 2019
Seeing a pattern here.
9)And this: FBI failed to tell Court that Page was approved as an "operational contact" for another U.S. agency, and "candidly" reported his interactions with a Russian intel officer. FBI instead used that Russian interaction against Page, with no exculpatory detail.
— Kimberley Strassel (@KimStrassel) December 10, 2019
10)Overall, IG was so concerned by these "extensive compliance failures" that is has now initiated additional "oversight" to assess how FBI in general complies with "policies that seek to protect the civil liberties of U.S. persons."
— Kimberley Strassel (@KimStrassel) December 10, 2019
They did such a horrible job they need more oversight BUT you know, it wasn’t political.
If this editor rolled her eyes any further back in her head she’d be able to see Russia from her house.
11) Report also expressed concerns about FBI's failure to present any of these issues to DOJ higher ups; its ongoing contacts with Steele after he was fired for talking to media; and its use of spies against the campaign without any DOJ input.
— Kimberley Strassel (@KimStrassel) December 10, 2019
Leaking.
They’re good at leaking.
Sorry for that visual.
12) Remember Comey telling us it was no big deal who paid for dossier? Turns out it was a big deal in FBI/DOJ, where one lawyer (Stuart Evans) expressed "concerns" it had been funded by Clinton/DNC. Because of his "consistent inquiries" we go that convoluted footnote.
— Kimberley Strassel (@KimStrassel) December 10, 2019
And there’s Clinton’s name.
13) IG also slaps FBI for using what was supposed to be a baseline briefing for the Trump campaign of foreign intelligence threats as a surreptitious opportunity to investigate Flynn.
— Kimberley Strassel (@KimStrassel) December 10, 2019
14) Finally, intriguing just how many people at the FBI don't remember anything about anything. Highly convenient.
— Kimberley Strassel (@KimStrassel) December 10, 2019
Even more intriguing is how many of them don’t actually know how to do their jobs.
15)Last point. When IG says he found no "documentary" evidence of bias, he means just that: He didn't find smoking gun email that says "let's take out Trump." And it isn't his job to guess at the motivations of FBI employees. Instead…
— Kimberley Strassel (@KimStrassel) December 10, 2019
Considering some of the texts we’ve seen we don’t really have to guess at what some of their motivations were.
16) He straightforwardly lays out facts. Those facts produce a pattern of FBI playing the FISA Court–overstating some info, omitting other info, cherrypicking details. Americans can look at totality and make their own judgment as to "why" FBI behaved in such a manner.
— Kimberley Strassel (@KimStrassel) December 10, 2019
Simply put, FBI played the court. And now it’s up to Barr and Durham to figure out why.
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