A new report declared Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz has reached a “critical final step” before releasing his findings on alleged Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act abuses.
Horowitz invited people interviewed in his investigation and their lawyers to review a draft of the report, according to the Associated Press. This process, which will allow these individuals one final chance to offer input, will take place over the next two weeks.
It was reported last week that a public copy was expected to be released by about Thanksgiving or later. Horowitz provided an update to Congress on Oct. 24, saying a classification review by the Justice Department and the FBI was “nearing completion.”
Sen. Chuck Grassley, an Iowa Republican who is eyeing a return to leading the Judiciary Committee, expressed his impatience on Tuesday with the multiple delays that appear to have beset the FISA report over the past several months. “If FISA Inspector General Horowitz report doesn’t come out next week when they said it would then I will be very disappointed & left to wonder WHAT THE GAME IS?? Is someone at FBI or DOJ tying IGs hands??” he tweeted.
If FISA Inspector General Horowitz report doesn’t come out next week when they said it would then I will be very disappointed & left to wonder WHAT THE GAME IS?? Is someone at FBI or DOJ tying IGs hands??
— ChuckGrassley (@ChuckGrassley) November 12, 2019
Republicans believe it 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. Democrats, as well as current and former FBI officials, have dismissed allegations of wrongdoing.
Horowitz announced the investigation in March 2018, saying his review would “examine the Justice Department’s and the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s (FBI) compliance with legal requirements, and with applicable DOJ and FBI policies and procedures, in applications filed with the U.S. Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC) relating to a certain U.S. person. As part of this examination, the OIG also will review information that was known to the DOJ and the FBI at the time the applications were filed from or about an alleged FBI confidential source.”
In addition, Horowitz said he would “review the DOJ’s and FBI’s relationship and communications with the alleged source as they relate to the FISC applications” and “[i]f circumstances warrant, the OIG will consider including other issues that may arise during the course of the review.”
Horowitz’s findings could be useful for U.S. Attorney John Durham, who is conducting an investigation into the origins of the Trump-Russia investigation, examining the conduct of the Justice Department, FBI, and the intelligence community. Last month, Durham shifted his administrative review to a criminal inquiry that allows his team the power to impanel a grand jury and hand down indictments.
