Democratic leaders are rushing through impeachment proceedings to beat out a potentially scathing revelation about the origins of the Trump-Russia investigation, according to a House Intelligence Committee Republican.
Texas Rep. John Ratcliffe said Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz’s forthcoming report on FBI intelligence-gathering activities is “likely to be damning” in how it reflects upon the Obama administration, and by extension former Vice President Joe Biden, who is a leading candidate for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination.
“Nancy Pelosi and Adam Schiff are racing to get this done,” the Texas congressman said on Fox News’s Sunday Morning Futures, referring to the House speaker and House Intelligence Committee chairman, respectively. “That’s why we have five impeachment hearings this week with eight different witnesses. They’re racing the clock. They want to get this done before information that comes out that damages the Obama-Biden administration and their efforts to frame Donald Trump come out in the IG report or from John Durham’s criminal investigation into those very same issues.”
The long-awaited report is eagerly anticipated by President Trump’s GOP allies, who claim Horowitz’s findings will show top Justice Department and FBI officials misled the FISA Court by using an unverified dossier compiled by British ex-spy Christopher Steele to obtain warrants to electronically monitor onetime Trump campaign adviser Carter Page. Horowitz’s findings could be useful for U.S. Attorney John Durham, who is conducting a criminal inquiry into the origins of the Russia investigation.
Attorney General William Barr told reporters on Wednesday that it was his understanding the release of the report was “imminent,” following a classification review by the Justice Department and FBI, as well as a final session for witnesses to provide feedback.
Democrats, as well as current and former FBI officials, have dismissed allegations of wrongdoing and have raised concerns that information about U.S. intelligence gathering could be weaponized to discredit special counsel Robert Mueller.
In the House, Democrats are spearheading impeachment proceedings that are examining the possibility that Trump abused his office to improperly pressure Ukraine to investigate his political rivals, including Biden. Early predictions put a vote on articles of impeachment around Thanksgiving, but now it appears Democrats may finish their work sometime around the Christmas season or later. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said in a CBS News interview airing Sunday that she has “no idea” if impeachment proceedings will wrap up by the end of the year.
Ratcliffe said he anticipates the FISA report will be made public during the first week of December, but he and other Republicans have previously made predictions for earlier release dates that did not pan out. Ratcliffe also said the report is “supposedly 500 pages.”
