AG Bill Barr Says Release of FISA Abuse Report Is “Imminent”

Here's more, from Politico:

Attorney General William Barr confirmed on Wednesday that an internal watchdog’s report on the origins of the FBI’s investigation of the Trump campaign’s dealings with Russia during the 2016 election is “imminent.” 

The highly anticipated report, led by Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz, seeks to establish whether the bureau violated laws and policies that govern the surveillance of American citizens. 

“It’s been reported and it’s my understanding that it is imminent,” Barr said at a news conference in Memphis, Tennessee. “A number of people who were mentioned in the report are having an opportunity right now to comment on how they were quoted in the report, and after that process is over which is very short, the report will be issued. That’s what the inspector general himself suggests.” 

The Justice Department inspector general’s office declined to comment, and a spokeswoman for Barr declined to elaborate on his suggestion about the timing. However, two sources confirmed that interview subjects had been notified in recent days that they would soon be shown portions of the review—typically a sign that the report is on the verge of public release. 

Horowitz had previously indicated, in an Oct. 24 letter to Congress, that he was in the process of finalizing his report. He said he had turned over a draft of his findings to the Justice Department and the FBI for a classification review. 

“The goal from my standpoint is to make as much of our report public as possible,” Horowitz wrote. “I anticipate that the final report will be released publicly with few redactions.” 

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Barr has said little about Horowitz’s report, but in a May interview with CBS News, he described the inspector general’s inquiry as limited in scope. “He’s looking at a discrete area that is- that is you know, important, which is the use of electronic surveillance that was targeted at Carter Page,” Barr said, referring to the unpaid Trump campaign adviser whose meetings with Russian officials drew FBI scrutiny during the 2016 campaign. 

Republicans have alleged that the FBI misrepresented the basis of its application for a warrant to surveil Page to a federal judge, saying the bureau underplayed the importance of the so-called Steele dossier, along with its partisan origins. The warrant was reviewed and renewed multiple times, by judges appointed by presidents of both parties. 

Asked about the IG report, Page told POLITICO he was "just in the process of confirming specific details with DOJ, but I remain optimistic that this should happen imminently." 

FBI officials have said in official documents that the true origin of its Russia probe was not the dossier, a compilation of raw intelligence reports by former MI-6 officer Christopher Steele, but a tip that another unpaid Trump campaign adviser, George Papadopoulos, was bragging to an Australian diplomat about how Russia had obtained a trove of Hillary Clinton’s emails.

A footnote in the warrant application, which was released by House Republicans over Democrats’ objections, does note the dossier’s link to partisan politics. But it does not specifically disclose its links to the Clinton campaign and the Democratic Party, which had commissioned Steele’s work. 

Horowitz’s report is wrapping up while a broader investigation into the Russia probe, led by U.S. Attorney John Durham, remains ongoing. Former top CIA officials, including John Brennan, have said they expected to be interviewed and pledged to cooperate. 

And from the Washington Examiner:

Attorney General William Barr said a release is "imminent" for the Justice Department inspector general's report on alleged Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act abuses.

The product of a year-and-a-half-long investigation, Inspector General Michael Horowitz's findings are poised to create a new rift between Republicans and Democrats in their clash over the federal investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.

"It's been reported and it's my understanding that it is imminent," Barr told reporters Wednesday in Memphis, Tennessee. "A number of people who were mentioned in the report are having an opportunity right now to comment on how they're quoted in the report. And after that process is over, which should be very short, the report will be issued. That’s what the inspector general himself suggests."

President Trump's GOP allies assert Horowitz's report 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, dismissedallegations of wrongdoing and have raised concerns that information about U.S. intelligence gathering could be weaponized to discredit special counsel Robert Mueller.

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Touting Horowitz as a "fiercely independent" and "superb" investigator who "conducted this particular investigation in the most professional way," Barr said he expects his report to be "a credit to the department."

Some Republicans and conservative media figures have vented their frustration in recent months at what appeared to be repeated delays in the investigation that Barr initially predicted could be completed by May or June. It was reported last week that a public copy was expected to be released by about Thanksgiving or later. 

The actual investigation was completed in September, and Horowitz provided an update to Congress on Oct. 24, saying a classification review by the Justice Department and the FBI was "nearing completion." 

In what should be a final step, Horowitz has invited people interviewed in his investigation and their lawyers to review a draft of the report. This process, which will allow the individuals one final chance to offer input, will take place over the next two weeks. Page claims to be one of them, saying he got "constructive feedback" from Horowitz's team.

In response to requests by then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions and members of Congress, Horowitz announced the investigation in March 2018, writing that 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 "if circumstances warrant, the OIG will consider including other issues that may arise during the course of the review."