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2019-10-20 -Lurid Crime Tales-
'God knows why': Long wait for DOJ inspector general report on alleged FISA abuses vexes Trump allies
[Washington Examiner] Conflicting signals surround the classification review for the Justice Department inspector general's report on alleged Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act abuses.

A month after Inspector General Michael Horowitz completed his investigation, there are signs that the declassification process is taking longer than expected at the Justice Department and the FBI, and that has made some Trump allies nervous.

Last weekend, Fox Business anchor Maria Bartiromo announced that her sources were telling her it would be released Friday. But by Monday, Bartiromo updated her report, tweeting, "IG report NOT out this Friday 10/18. Classifications being made. Likely end of month."

Her colleague at Fox Business, Lou Dobbs, who has long complained of the moving "goal posts" for the release of the FISA report, was irritated by the delay. "We now are told by apparently reliable sources that it’s to be delayed. God knows why," he said on his show Wednesday.

Republican allies of President Trump are eager for the report's release as they believe it will show top Justice Department and FBI officials improperly targeted the Trump team by misleading 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. Some have even predicted that the four FISA warrants against Page were illegally obtained and have demanded accountability.

Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, Trump noted that the release of the FISA report is "coming out soon" and will shed light on a "corrupt election." Trump said he believes the string of misconduct "goes right up" to his predecessor, former President Barack Obama.

Democrats have dismissed the allegations of wrongdoing during the Trump-Russia investigation and are concerned that U.S. Attorney John Durham's review of the early stages of the Russia investigation, being overseen by Attorney General William Barr, may be an effort to discredit the work of special counsel Robert Mueller.

Little is known about what the report will say, let alone what is going on behind the scenes at the Justice Department and the FBI. A DOJ official who spoke with Fox News disputed there being a tumultuous debate over redactions. "The FBI and the DOJ are working together smoothly on the declassification process," the official said.

But former Republican Utah Rep. Jason Chaffetz, now a Fox News contributor, posited a more skeptical explanation for why there appears to have been a delay that may infuriate Trump's supporters.

"Evidently, there’s an intra-agency debate and really a food fight if you will about the classification issues," Chaffetz said on Sean Hannity's show on Monday. "Remember in the last report put out by Horowitz, there were only seven words or so that were redacted. The Democrats threw a fit that they couldn’t see the whole thing. This could have 10-20% of the report redacted."
Posted by Besoeker 2019-10-20 04:22|| || Front Page|| [11133 views ]  Top

#1 Actually, we all know why.
Posted by Besoeker 2019-10-20 04:26||   2019-10-20 04:26|| Front Page Top

#2 We all know why?
Posted by g(r)omgoru 2019-10-20 04:51||   2019-10-20 04:51|| Front Page Top

#3 FISA abuse was all about spying on Trump by the Obama administration. They planted agents in his campaign ffs. And the CIA chief at the time is now a paid CNN contributor.
Posted by jpal 2019-10-20 04:56||   2019-10-20 04:56|| Front Page Top

#4 Ref #3: Don't forget the black robed FISA fellow conspirators who were appointed by Soetoro.
Posted by Besoeker 2019-10-20 04:59||   2019-10-20 04:59|| Front Page Top

#5 If it is EVER released, here is an unrelated example of what it may look like.
Posted by Besoeker 2019-10-20 05:11||   2019-10-20 05:11|| Front Page Top

#6 and CNN is revealed to be a lying extreme left fake-news agency thanks to Project Veritas.
Posted by Bright Pebbles 2019-10-20 06:55||   2019-10-20 06:55|| Front Page Top

#7 They're left, not extreme left. Saying things like that just harms your already-good argument that CNN is fake news. It causes people to discard your argument.
Posted by Herb McCoy 2019-10-20 07:42||   2019-10-20 07:42|| Front Page Top

#8 If you're prepared to lie and censor to promote left wing opinions as facts; then I think that's pretty obviously extreme.
Posted by Bright Pebbles 2019-10-20 07:54||   2019-10-20 07:54|| Front Page Top

#9 Trump has the authority to order it released, NOW, no reductions.
Posted by Fat Bob Javish1936 2019-10-20 08:01||   2019-10-20 08:01|| Front Page Top

#10 Extreme left is correct. We discard your arguments
Posted by Frank G 2019-10-20 08:03||   2019-10-20 08:03|| Front Page Top

#11 "Fat Bob Javish1936"

and he doesn't, so I wonder if he's waiting for maximum effect.
Posted by Bright Pebbles 2019-10-20 08:08||   2019-10-20 08:08|| Front Page Top

#12 IG report should have been out months ago. It took longer, apparently, because of insistence that it cover matters other than the FISA review. This was, I think, a mistake as the FISA matter could have been completed and a second report begun on the other matters.

The IG has no authority to interview outside the DOJ and no authority to call grand jury etc. It will be the Durham review that really matters and Durham has only limited authority until the IG report is out.
Posted by lord garth 2019-10-20 09:15||   2019-10-20 09:15|| Front Page Top

#13 Bright Pebbles, I assume that he pretty much knows everything at this point, and, he has his game all planned out. It sure is frustrating though.
Posted by Fat Bob Javish1936 2019-10-20 10:10||   2019-10-20 10:10|| Front Page Top

#14 The Dems are going to bitch whether regardless of how report is released; redacted or unredacted. Trump will be demonized either way.

I'd err on the side of transparency and release document minimally unredacted. Let the chips fall where they may. We have had too many phony panels, Congressional hearings behind closed doors, blue-chip commissions that have led to nothing but never-ending conspiracy theories (and maybe conspiracies), a distrust of government that continue for years. Put the evidence out there for the public to see. I doubt that these agencies such as the FBI, DOJ, DOS, and Intelligence agencies could be damaged more than they have by the actions of those in the last administration.
Posted by JohnQC 2019-10-20 14:13||   2019-10-20 14:13|| Front Page Top

#15 The Dems are going to bitch regardless of how the report is released; redacted or unredacted. Trump will be demonized either way.

Sorry about that. My grammar and spell checker doesn't work so well sometimes. Stayed up too late watching Alabama--Tennessee grind it out. The game was closer than the score would indicate.
Posted by JohnQC 2019-10-20 14:17||   2019-10-20 14:17|| Front Page Top

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