IG Horowitz to testify on Russia probe, FISA abuse

IG Horowitz to testify on Russia probe, FISA abuse
• Nov 18, 2019

OJ Inspector General Michael Horowitz will testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee, led by Lindsey Graham, on Dec. 11.

Published 1 hour ago, Last Update 18 mins ago
Horowitz finds evidence FBI employee altered key document related to surveillance of Trump adviser: reports
By Gregg Re | Fox News

Report: Criminal referrals likely in Horowitz FISA abuse report.

Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz has found evidence that an FBI lawyer manipulated a key investigative document related to the FBI's secretive surveillance of a former Trump campaign adviser -- enough to change the substantive meaning of the document, according to multiple reports.

The show-stopping development comes as Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., told Fox News that Horowitz's comprehensive report on allegations of Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) warrant abuse against former Trump campaign aide Carter Page will be released on Dec. 9. "That's locked," Graham said.

The new evidence concerning the altered document is expected to be outlined in Horowitz's upcoming report. CNN first reported the news, which was largely confirmed by The Washington Post.

Republicans have long argued that the FBI's alleged FISA abuses, which came as the bureau aggressively pursued ultimately unsubstantiated claims of criminal links between the Trump team and Russia during the 2016 presidential campaign, were politically motivated. Earlier this week, the DOJ highlighted a slew of anti-Trump text messages sent by ex-FBI agent Peter Strzok when he was leading the counterintelligence probe into the Trump campaign.

Sources told Fox News last month that U.S. Attorney John Durham's separate, ongoing probe into potential FBI and Justice Department misconduct in the run-up to the 2016 election through the spring of 2017 has transitioned into a full-fledged criminal investigation -- and that Horowitz's report will shed light on why Durham's probe has become a criminal inquiry.

Just nine days before the FBI applied for its FISA warrant to surveil Page, bureau officials were battling with a senior Justice Department official who had "continued concerns" about the "possible bias" of a source pivotal to the application, according to internal text messages previously obtained by Fox News.

The 2016 messages, sent between Lisa Page and then-FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, also revealed that bureau brass circulated at least two anti-Trump blog articles, including a Lawfare blog post sent shortly after Election Day that called Trump possibly "among the major threats to the security of the country."

Fox News is told the texts were connected to the ultimately successful Page application, which relied in part on information from British ex-spy Christopher Steele – whose anti-Trump views are now well-documented – and cited Page’s suspected Russia ties. In its warrant application, the FBI assured the FISA court on numerous occasions that other sources independently corroborated Steele's claims but did not clearly state that Steele worked for a firm hired by Hillary Clinton's campaign.

Page has not been charged with any wrongdoing despite more than a year of federal surveillance, and he has since sued numerous actors -- including the Democratic National Committee (DNC) -- for defamation related to claims that he worked with Russia.

"OI [Office of Intelligence] now has a robust explanation re any possible bias of the chs [confidential human source] in the package," Lisa Page wrote to McCabe on Oct. 12, 2016. "Don't know what the holdup is now, other than Stu's continued concerns."

It's unclear whether the confidential source in question was Steele or another individual. "Stu" was an apparent reference to Stuart Evans, then the DOJ's National Security Division deputy assistant attorney general. In one previously unearthed and since-unredacted text message, Strzok texted Page that he was "Currently fighting with Stu for this FISA" in late 2016.

Page is not the only Trump official to allege misconduct by the FBI. Last month, an explosive court filing from Michael Flynn’s legal team alleged that FBI agents manipulated official records of the former national security adviser’s 2017 interview that led to him being charged with lying to investigators. Flynn's attorneys demanded the FBI search its internal "Sentinel" system to find more evidence of allegedly doctored files.

Newly released text messages involving text messages between Strzok and former FBI lawyer Lisa Page revealed that Page -- who was not present for the Flynn interview -- had apparently made "edits" to the so-called "302" witness report in the case, which was key to Flynn's prosecution on a false statements charge. Page told Strzok on February 10, 2017 that she “gave my edits to Bill to put on your desk.”

Horowitz told congressional lawmakers in an October letter that his investigation and ensuing report were nearing their conclusion.

The "lengthy" draft report "concerns sensitive national security and law enforcement matters," Horowitz wrote in the letter, adding that he anticipated "the final report will be released publicly with few redactions."

Horowitz noted that he did not anticipate a need to prepare or issue "separate classified and public versions of the report."

"After we receive the final classification markings from the Department and the FBI, we will then proceed with our usual process for preparing a final report, including ensuring that appropriate reviews occur for accuracy and comment purposes," Horowitz wrote in the letter. "Once begun, we do not anticipate the time for that review to be lengthy."

Videos at https://www.foxnews.com/politics/horowitz-finds-evidence-fbi-employee-altered-russia-probe-document

FORMER FBI ATTORNEY UNDER CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION FOR FABRICATING EVIDENCE IN RUSSIAGATE PROBE
Posted by AJ Nelson | Nov 21, 2019 |



Tweets at https://news4achange.com/former-fbi-attorney-under-criminal-investigation/


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Jason Chaffetz: Democrats already spinning IG report

Temple wrote:

Obi..
do you only watch FOX?
and FOX YouTubes?

I watch all sorts of stuff. Do try to pay attention.

The Wise And Powerful wrote:

Temple wrote:

Obi..
do you only watch FOX?
and FOX YouTubes?

I watch all sorts of stuff. Do try to pay attention.

you post, mainly, FOX everything..
I don't ''watch'' a lot, I read newspapers, documents etc..
I tune in and out of cable news.. hate the fukin pannels..
I like Maddow .

If the report isn't due out until this December 9, the article is bogus at best, and should be considered fake news.

The left wing rag you find that on has been known to be a worthless liberal mouthpiece of the dems.

Unreal..every other article on GOOGLE about this "news" parrots The New York Times article as the source.

The Times of course has been wrong on many of it's "news" articles, many of which had to be retracted - days later, buried back in section 3 or 4 rather that on the front page where the articles first ran.

I'll wait til the real report comes out, Temple.

The Wise And Powerful wrote:

If the report isn't due out until this December 9, the article is bogus at best, and should be considered fake news.

The left-wing rag you find that on has been known to be a worthless liberal mouthpiece of the dems.

reports are almost always made backdoor public before due out, it's sorta common. Happens often and news makes sure its what it is.
wait for it ..

Published 42 mins ago
Jason Chaffetz: Democrats pre-spinning Inspector General report is 'true to script'
By Julia Musto | Fox News

Former House Oversight Committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz told the 'Fox & Friends' hosts that Horowitz didn't spend 18 months on the IG report not finding anything on the DOJ.

A New York Times report alleging the FBI never tried to place undercover agents within the Trump campaign is yet another attempt to pre-spin Department of Justice Inspector General Michael Horowitz's long-awaited report, former House Oversight Committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz said Thursday.

Appearing on "Fox & Friends" with hosts Dean Cain, Lisa Boothe, and Pete Hegseth, Chaffetz said the article was "true to script" for the Democrats.

"By its very definition, a FISA application is a warrant to spy on somebody," Chaffetz said. "This person, Carter Page, happened to be on the Trump campaign. So, the mere fact that they're trying to discredit that says a lot about the weakness of their case and their allegations."

Chaffetz added: "But, the reality is this happened and the Inspector General -- this will be his fifth report that he's come out with regarding the FBI at the highest echelons. And, let's also remember: they didn't spend 18 months working on this to say, 'Hey, everything went swimmingly at the Department of Justice.'"

According to the Times, the Russia Inquiry review is expected to include evidence that "the FBI was careless and unprofessional in pursuing the Page wiretap." Horowitz also reportedly referred some of his findings to prosecutors for "potential criminal charges over the alteration of a document in 2017 by a front-line lawyer, Kevin Clinesmith, 37, in connection with the wiretap application."

"You have to have the highest security clearance they give at the Department of Justice and this one guy just happened to work on all of these types of reports," Chaffetz said. "I hope he's not just the scapegoat, but he is the attorney that's assigned to go through, and the allegation of the article is that he manipulated the evidence, changed the documentation to achieve a political outcome which was to spy on the Trump campaign."

Chaffetz said the article is a "key flashing light" that says the FBI has "something to be worried about."

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., announced that Horowitz's report is set to be released on Dec. 9.

Steyer managed Putin's oil investments in Russia (and other KGB linked Russian oligarchs) during the Obama years.

He made his fortune from fossil fuels including selling Australian coal to China while influencing Obama to bankrupt his American coal competition.

What will the far left say about that?

https://www.discoverthenetworks.org/individuals/tom-steyer/

Published 6 mins ago
FISA report: DOJ watchdog shares findings on Russia probe surveillance
By Ronn Blitzer, Brooke Singman | Fox News

The Justice Department’s inspector general on Monday released to lawmakers the long-awaited internal review concerning the origins of the Russia investigation.

According to a source, the report concluded that investigators found no intentional misconduct surrounding efforts to seek a highly controversial Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) warrant to monitor former Trump campaign adviser Carter Page in the early months of the Russia investigation -- but also faulted the FBI over numerous inaccuracies in the application process.

The IG probe identified at least 17 errors in the Page applications.

IG Michael Horowitz and his investigators probed how the unverified anti-Trump dossier compiled by former British spy Christopher Steele was used to secure the original FISA warrant for Page in October 2016, as well as other decisions at the outset of the FBI’s counterintelligence investigation of Russian election interference and the Trump campaign.

The release comes as Washington has been consumed with the impeachment inquiry into President Trump. The House Judiciary Committee was holding the inquiry’s latest hearing Monday, days after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Democrats are moving forward with plans to bring articles of impeachment against the president over his dealings with Ukraine.

But the FISA report is sure to become a political football of its own, alongside the impeachment probe.

Republicans, led by Rep. Devin Nunes, R-Calif., have contested the FISA warrant and its subsequent renewal applications, claiming that the FBI misrepresented key evidence and omitted exculpatory information.

Nunes blasted the FBI for not revealing that evidence used to support the warrant application came from an unverified dossier compiled by Steele as opposition research for Hillary Clinton’s campaign. Democrats have pointed to a footnote in the warrant application that gave a general characterization of the nature of the information and how the FBI believed that it was part of an effort to get information to discredit Trump’s campaign, though it did not specifically mention Clinton or the Democratic National Committee.

Horowitz’s team has questioned why the FBI considered Steele a credible source, and why the bureau seemed to use news reports to bolster Steele’s credibility.

The inspector general has said his team has “reviewed over one million records and conducted over 100 interviews, including several witnesses who only recently agreed to be interviewed.” Page, who has been vocal about his belief that he was unjustly targeted, has expressed frustration over not being interviewed for Horowitz’s investigation. Page was never charged with a crime as a result of the surveillance.

Trump and his Republican allies have long questioned the Justice Department’s efforts to secure the surveillance warrants. Earlier this year, Attorney General Bill Barr said "spying" did occur against the Trump campaign during the campaign. But critics pushed back: James Comey, who was FBI director at the time, dismissed Barr’s claims, saying he “never thought of” electronic surveillance as “spying.”

Next, Horowitz is scheduled to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee Wednesday morning to answer questions about his probe.

The Horowitz findings come amid another, broader inquiry related to the 2016 election: Barr has assigned John Durham, the U.S. attorney for Connecticut, to conduct an inquiry into alleged misconduct and alleged improper government surveillance on the Trump campaign during the 2016 presidential election. That investigation is criminal in nature, and Republicans may look to it to uncover wrongdoing that the inspector general wasn’t examining.

Ahead of the release, some of the people who worked at the FBI at the time attempted to get ahead of the report to defend their actions. Lisa Page, the ex-FBI lawyer who carried on an extramarital affair with former FBI head of counterintelligence Peter Strzok as the two exchanged anti-Trump text messages during the investigation, recently granted an interview for a sympathetic piece at The Daily Beast, saying “there’s no fathomable way that I have committed any crime at all.”

Meanwhile, a key FBI player during the time frame, former FBI deputy director Andrew McCabe, has been facing the prospect of federal charges after Horowitz faulted him in a separate inquiry over statements he made during a Hillary Clinton-related investigation. The review found that McCabe "lacked candor" when talking with investigators, but the former FBI official has denied wrongdoing. McCabe has not been indicted.

The report:

https://www.justice.gov/storage/120919-examination.pdf


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