DOJ Watchdog Expected To Downgrade ‘Spying’ On Trump Campaign To ‘Typical Law Enforcement Activities’

In late September, RealClearInvestigations‘ Paul Sperry suggested that Inspector General Michael Horowitz – tasked with investigating and exposing wrongdoing at the highest levels – was feared to be pulling punches in order to protect establishment darlings in his upcoming report on the Russia investigation.

Now we learn that Horowitz, who volunteered on several Democratic political campaigns while in college and is married to a former liberal political activist, Obama donor and CNN employee, is expected to conclude that the FBI didn’t spy on the Trump campaign.

Instead, when longtime FBI / CIA asset Stephan Halper and his undercover FBI ‘assistant’ named “Azra Turk” befriended George Papadopoulos, it was nothing more than “typical law enforcement activities,” according  the New York Times.

Mr. Horowitz found no evidence that Mr. Halper tried to infiltrate the Trump campaign itself, the people familiar with the draft report said, such as by seeking inside campaign information or a role in the organization. The F.B.I. also never directed him to do so, former officials said. Instead, Mr. Halper focused on eliciting information from Mr. Page and Mr. Papadopoulos about their ties to Russia.

…

Mr. Trump and his allies have pointed to some of the investigative steps the F.B.I. took as evidence of spying, though they were typical law enforcement activities. –NYT

Recall that the Obama administration had paid Halper over $1 million over a several years, with nearly half of it surrounding the 2016 election.

The FBI never tried to place informants inside the Trump campaign. They only ran informants to solicit information from people who worked for the campaign. Is it just me, or does this seem like a distinction without a difference. https://t.co/hOVEiLdgyq

— Eli Lake (@EliLake) November 27, 2019

NYT: The FBI never did X. Never ever. Except those two times… https://t.co/f9AcujwtEr pic.twitter.com/uZlFxPho1f

— Byron York (@ByronYork) November 27, 2019

The report is also expected to conclude that Maltese professor Joseph Mifsud – who fed Papadopoulos the rumor that Russia had dirt on Hillary Clinton – is not an FBI informant. Mifsud, a self-described member of the Clinton Foundation, has been painted by Western media as a Russian asset.

Except, nobody claimed Mifsud was an FBI informant. As The Conservative Treehouse notes, “The concern has always been Mifsud was a western intelligence asset, perhaps CIA.”

Moreover, Horowitz will conclude that while the FBI was ‘careless and unprofessional’ in pursuing a wiretap on Trump campaign adviser Carter Page, and that a ‘front-line lawyer’ Kevin Clinesmith, 37, fabricated evidence to support a FISA spy warrant renewal against Page, that the underlying justification to go after page remained intact.

In other slaps on the wrist, Horowitz is expected to criticize DOJ official Bruce Ohr for failing to inform his bosses about his extensive contacts with ‘Steele Dossier’ author Christopher Steele.

And the icing on the cake – last week The Times also reported that while Horowitz will criticize the FBI for how they handled the Trump investigation, “he made no finding of politically biased actions by top officials Mr. Trump has vilified like the former F.B.I. director James B. Comey.”

NYtimes did a story on Horowitz report. I warned folks many times about Horowitz. Turns out I was right.
“ report debunks a series of conspiracy theories/insinuations about the F.B.I. that Mr. Trump & his allies have put forward over the past
2 years “..https://t.co/r0f2mP34GH

— Christian Lamar (@christianllamar) November 25, 2019

Horowitz gave Comey, McCabe, Strzok, Yates, Boente and Rosenstein a clean bill of health. No wrongdoing.

Don’t expect Durham to charge anyone because if he did the Department of Justice would be contradicting itself.

Clinesmith guy is low hanging fruit. No big players charged.

— Christian Lamar (@christianllamar) November 25, 2019

No wonder Comey and team have been so smug!

The report is expected December 9, while Horowitz is scheduled to testify in front of the Senate days later.

I’m at the “abolish the FBI” stage of grief. https://t.co/I22PmMwih1

— Jubal E. Harshaw (@alimhaider) November 28, 2019

Of course, while Horowitz may or may not give key FBI officials a pass in his report, its only one component of the ongoing efforts by the DOJ.

16) The media will use the IG report to paint the narrative that no one of consequence will be prosecuted. They’ll conflate the responsibilities of IG Horowitz and US Attorney Durham, and claim that Horowitz’s recommendations are what really matter.

— Praying Medic (@prayingmedic) November 28, 2019