IG Report On FISA Abuses Expected To Be Released Within 2 Weeks

Lindsey Graham appeared on Fox News "Sunday Morning Futures" to talk more about the upcoming release of the IG report:

Real Clear Politics has a partial transcript of what Graham had to say:

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) talks to FOX News host Maria Bartiromo on the forthcoming DOJ IG report on alleged FISA abuse on 'Sunday Morning Features.'

MARIA BARTIROMO, HOST, "SUNDAY MORNING FEATURES," FOX NEWS:  What's your reaction to the idea that there could be another whistle-blower out there?  And the lawyer says, no, it's not one.  I'm representing many whistle-blowers?  

Are these all whistle-blowers about one phone call that he had with the president of Ukraine, do you think?  

SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R-SC):  I don't know.

But remember Kavanaugh.  Remember Kavanaugh.  It started with one complaint that wound up being unverifiable, a complaint against Judge Kavanaugh about a party that took place in high school 30 years ago, without any notice of where it happened and when it happened, and everybody described to be there said it didn't happen.

And five more allegations came after that.  What did we learn in Kavanaugh?  That they were coaching witnesses and they were piling on to try to create an impression that Judge Kavanaugh was a flawed human being.  

BARTIROMO:  Yes.  

GRAHAM:  This is Kavanaugh all over again.

It -- does this second whistle-blower, if there is one, are they within the intel community?  And what is it about the intel community and Trump that is so off-base here?

And did Schiff do with the whistle-blower, the first one, what they did with Kavanaugh witnesses, coach them up?  

BARTIROMO:  Well, I think you make a lot of important points.

And I have got to go back to one or two right now, because, first of all, when you bring up Brett Kavanaugh, I actually thought a similar -- I had a similar thought last week when we learned that after Adam Schiff said he never spoken to the whistle-blower, then we learned that, no, actually, that wasn't true, that, in fact, the whistle-blower contacted his committee first.

And his staff or him did in fact meet.  So, why that?  I mean, was he coaching the whistle-blower, the way we learned later that the Intel Committee and Adam Schiff and the Democrats spent some 30 hours with Christine Blasey Ford, before she made her accusations against Brett Kavanaugh?

GRAHAM:  Right.

Well, you had a witness in Denver that they spent 30 hours with.  You had a lot of effort by Kavanaugh -- people who came forward against Kavanaugh, I think, were coached by lawyers who were out to get Trump.  

Now, Schiff is a witness.

Rep. John Ratcliffe also announced that the FISA abuse report is expected within 2 weeks.

Watch this clip:

The Washington Examiner has more on this:

A Republican lawmaker said he expects the release of the report by Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz on alleged Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act abuses by the DOJ and the FBI within two weeks.

          

Rep. John Ratcliffe, who is a member of the House Judiciary and Intelligence Committees, made the declaration on Fox News' Sunday Morning Futures when asked by anchor Maria Bartiromo about unreleased transcript material that GOP investigators have suggested was exculpatory evidence not given to the FISA court in applications targeting former Trump campaign adviser Carter Page.

          

"Well, if there is a transcript, I think everyone would agree, based on what you just said, if there is a transcript of what you just related, that absolutely should have been provided to the FISA court," the Texas Republican said.

          

"And the good news is, we'll get a definitive answer from the inspector general when this report gets issued in the next week or two about whether or not that was done," Ratcliffe added, the most specific prediction for its release to date.

The presentations to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court for the Page warrants have been roundly criticized by Republicans, especially the FBI’s reliance on the dossier compiled by British ex-spy Christopher Steele, who was being paid by Hillary Clinton's 2016 campaign and the Democratic National Committee through Fusion GPS via the Perkins Coie law firm. Republicans say the FBI did not verify the dossier before using it and that the bureau hid key facts from the court, while Democrats have defended the FBI’s actions.