Fox News host Sean Hannity said the Justice Department’s criminal investigation into the origins of the Trump-Russia investigation will “shock the conscience and soul of the nation.”
He made the bold assertion on Saturday during a Politicon discussion with Democratic strategist James Carville in Nashville, Tennessee.
“There’s a lot coming,” Hannity said. “We got the Horowitz report on FISA abuse report coming. My sources tell me it will shock the conscience and soul of a nation, and when the Durham report comes out, that will similarly shock the conscience and soul of the nation about abuse of power and corruption.”
Hannity was referring to Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz’s investigation into possible Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act abuses. His report is expected to be released in the next couple of weeks.
Horowitz’s team looked into allegations that DOJ and FBI officials misled the FISA court in using an unverified dossier compiled by British ex-spy Christopher Steele to obtain warrants to electronically monitor onetime Trump campaign adviser Carter Page. Steele was hired by opposition research firm Fusion GPS, and his work was financed by Hillary Clinton’s campaign and the Democratic National Committee via the Perkins Coie law firm.
Horowitz sent a letter to Congress last week saying the classification process being conducted on the report by the DOJ and FBI was “nearing completion.” Shortly afterward, it was revealed that U.S. Attorney John Durham’s administrative review of the DOJ’s and FBI’s conduct during the 2016 campaign and the first part of 2017 had become a criminal review.
As the Durham investigation is being overseen by Attorney General William Barr, Democrats are openly concerned about whether it has become “tainted” by politics. During a Fox News interview, Barr denied he is attempting to shield President Trump and said Durham will be “thorough and fair.”
On his Fox News show, Hannity has consistently cited “sources” to ratchet up expectations for the DOJ investigations. In August, for instance, Hannity said he heard “the single most explosive bit of information” that will come out of the Durham inquiry is about the “outsourcing of illegal intelligence-gathering for the sake of circumventing American laws.” Last month, he clashed with former Republican Rep. Trey Gowdy about whether Horowitz’s report will lead to indictments for “premeditated fraud” before the FISA court.
