Two Republican lawmakers met with Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz on Tuesday and discussed the yearlong Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act abuse investigation.
During an interview on Fox News, Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, said Horowitz told him and Rep. Mark Meadows, R-N.C., he “expects” a report on his investigation into possible FISA abuse by the DOJ and FBI “in May or June.”
That confirmed what Attorney General William Barr testified earlier in the day to a congressional panel.
Horowitz announced the initiation of the FISA abuse investigation in March 2018 after requests from both then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions and Republican members in Congress. The lawmakers claimed the Justice Department and FBI had abused the FISA process and misled the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court in their investigation and surveillance of President Trump and his associates during the campaign, as well as during the Trump administration.
Onetime Trump campaign aide Carter Page was the subject of a FISA warrant and three renewals.
Pointing to Horowitz’s findings in regards to misconduct by former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, Jordan said, “We expect the inspector general to do the good work that he’s always done.”
Both Jordan and Meadows also heaped praise on Barr. Jordan said Barr “handled himself professionally” during his hearing Tuesday, which was meant to focus on the DOJ’s proposed budget but got sidetracked by Russia investigation questions, and Meadows called him “extremely diligent.”
Meanwhile, their colleague, House Intelligence Committee ranking member Devin Nunes, R-Calif., is expected to send Barr this week criminal referrals targeting eight people tied to the origins of the Trump-Russia investigation.
“The right move from @DevinNunes. More criminal referrals to come. And certainly more deserved. Overwhelming evidence shows multiple FBI + DOJ executives abused their power to undermine a duly elected President Trump. They will be held accountable,” Meadows tweeted earlier in the week.
