DOJ Inspector General Completes FISA Abuse Probe; To Be Made Public After Review

DOJ Inspector General Michael Horowitz has completed his investigation into potential FBI abuse of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act during its counterintelligence investigation into the Trump campaign, according to a letter from Georgia Rep. Doug Collins (R) to House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler. 

Horowitz informed Attorney General William Barr on Friday that he had completed his probe.

“Earlier today, Department of Justice (DOJ) Inspector General Michael Horowitz notified Attorney General William Barr of the completion of his investigation into possible abuses of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance of Act (FISA) by DOJ officials during the 2016 presidential election,” wrote Collins, who called on Nadler to invite Horowitz and FBI Director Christopher Wray to testify after the report has undergone Judiciary Committee review and then made public.

“After the DOJ has a chance to review and comment on the report, it will be sent to the Judiciary Committee and made public,” wrote Collins. 

In late June, Horowitz informed several congressional committees that his probe was “nearing completion,” and that his office had interviewed over 100 witnesses and reviewed more than 1 million documents, according to the Daily Caller‘s Chuck Ross. 

The FBI relied heavily on the infamous and unverified Steele dossier in applications for the warrants.

The special counsel’s report severely undercut dossier author Christopher Steele’s claim that there was a “well-developed conspiracy of co-operation” between the Trump campaign and Russian government.

The special counsel said there was no evidence of a conspiracy involving the Trump team. There was also no evidence that Page or any other Trump associates acted as agents of Russia.

Republicans have accused the FBI of mishandling the dossier, and failing to disclose to FISA Court judges that the DNC and Clinton campaign had hired Steele to investigate Trump. Investigators with the OIG reportedly interviewed Steele in London, where he is based, in early June. –Daily Caller

According to Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH), top Republican on the House Oversight and Reform Committee, Horowitz will likely conclude that the FBI illegally obtained FISA warrants against 2016 Trump campaign aide Carter Page. 

“I think he will,” said Jordan during an discussion with Fox News‘s Sean Hannity and Gregg Jarrett Monday night. 

And in December, a string of emails quietly requested by House Republicans for declassification by President Trump may provide the smoking gun in the FISA abuse case. 

The email exchanges show the FBI was aware — before it secured the now-infamous warrant — that there were intelligence community concerns about the reliability of the main evidence used to support it: the Christopher Steele dossier.

The exchanges also indicate FBI officials were aware that Steele, the former MI6 British intelligence operative then working as a confidential human source for the bureau, had contacts with news media reporters before the FISA warrant was secured. –The Hill