All of a sudden we have a no nonsense AG at work. DEMs demanding the full Mueller report are surely whistling in the dark. Within three months at most all participants in the perpetration of obvious treason will be facing real justice. There is no recourse here.
They had their fun for two years and earned zero mercy from their victims who really are the American People.
We are now watching the reassertion of the rule of law and many will be badly shaken.
Attorney General Barr to review FBI conduct during Russia probe
Barr testifies 'spying did occur' on Trump campaign, amid reported review of informant's role
Attorney General Bill Barr testified
Wednesday that he believes "spying did occur" on the Trump campaign in
2016, as he vowed to review the conduct of the FBI's original Russia
probe -- and the focus of a related internal review shifted to the role
of a key FBI informant.
"I think spying did
occur. The question is whether it was adequately predicated. … I think
it’s my obligation. Congress is usually very concerned with intelligence
agencies and law enforcement agencies staying in their proper lane," he testified before a Senate Appropriations subcommittee, while noting that "spying on a political campaign is a big deal."
BARR VOWS MUELLER REPORT RELEASE 'WITHIN A WEEK,' AS DEMS RIP 'UNACCEPTABLE' HANDLING AT HEATED HEARING
The
comments follow a new report that the Justice Department’s internal
watchdog also is scrutinizing the role of an FBI informant who contacted
members of the Trump campaign during the 2016 election, as part of a
broader review of the early stages of the Russia investigation. The New York Times reported that Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz is looking into informant Stefan Halper’s work during the Russia probe, as well as his work with the FBI prior to the start of that probe.
BARR REVEALS HE IS REVIEWING 'CONDUCT' OF FBI'S ORIGINAL RUSSIA PROBE
Halper,
an American professor who reportedly is deeply connected with British
and American intelligence agencies, has been widely reported as a
confidential source for the FBI during the bureau’s original
investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election. That official
counterintelligence operation was opened by then-senior agent Peter
Strzok, who has since been fired from the bureau.
During the 2016
campaign, Halper contacted several members of the Trump campaign,
including former foreign policy adviser George Papadopoulos and former
aide Carter Page. Page also was the subject of several Foreign
Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) warrants during the campaign --
which is an issue at the heart of the IG's investigation. Republicans,
including President Trump, have alleged misconduct in the bureau and
Justice Department’s handling of those FISA warrants.
"It was an
illegal investigation. ... Everything about it was crooked," Trump told
reporters on Wednesday, describing it as an attempted "coup" and
reiterating his interest in digging into the probe's origins. "There is a
hunger for that to happen."
The
Times, in its report, noted that Halper also contacted former Trump
campaign aide Sam Clovis. It is unclear whether Halper had the FBI’s
permission to contact Clovis, according to the report.
Horowitz,
more broadly, is probing alleged wrongdoing related to the issuance of
FISA warrants to surveil Page during the election. During a prior
hearing on Capitol Hill on Tuesday, Barr testified that Horowitz’s
investigation is expected to be complete by May or June.
While
vowing to release Special Counsel Robert Mueller's now-completed Russia
report in a matter of days, Barr also announced Tuesday that he was
reviewing the origins of the Russia investigation at the FBI and the
Justice Department, amid mounting calls for scrutiny of the probe's
beginnings from Trump and prominent congressional Republicans.
“More
generally, I am reviewing the conduct of the investigation and trying
to get my arms around all of the aspects of the counterintelligence
investigation that was conducted in the summer of 2016,” Barr told the
House Appropriations Committee on Tuesday.
BARR ASSEMBLES 'TEAM' TO LOOK INTO COUNTERINTELLIGENCE INVESTIGATION ON TRUMP CAMPAIGN IN 2016, OFFICIAL SAYS
Also
on Tuesday, Fox News reported that a source said Barr had assembled a
“team” to investigate the origins of the bureau’s counterintelligence
investigation into the Trump campaign.
On Wednesday, Barr testified that he hasn't technically "set up a team" but has colleagues helping him as he reviews the case.
"This
is not launching an investigation of the FBI," he stressed. "Frankly,
to the extent there were issues at the FBI, I do not view it as a
problem of the FBI. I think it was probably a failure of the group of
leaders—the upper echelons of the FBI. I think the FBI is an outstanding
organization and I am very pleased Director Chris Wray is there."
He
added, "If it becomes necessary to look over former officials, I expect
to rely on Chris and work with him. I have an obligation to make sure
government power is not abused and I think that’s one of the principal
roles of the attorney general."
The FBI’s 2016 counterintelligence
investigation, formally opened by Strzok, began with a “paucity” of
evidence, according to former FBI counsel Lisa Page, with whom Strzok
was romantically involved. During a closed-door congressional interview,
Page admitted that the FBI “knew so little” about whether allegations
against the Trump campaign were “true or not true” at the time they
opened the probe, adding that they had just “a paucity of evidence
because we [were] just starting down the path” of vetting allegations.
Page
also said in her interview that it was “entirely common” that the FBI
would begin an investigation with just a “small amount of evidence.”
Barr’s
team will also review the FISA warrants issued against Carter Page. The
issuance of the FISA warrants relied, in part, on the unverified
anti-Trump dossier authored by ex-British Intelligence Agent Christopher
Steele, who worked on behalf of Fusion GPS—a firm paid by the Hillary
Clinton campaign and the Democratic National Committee through law firm
Perkins Coie to do opposition research against the Trump campaign. In
the dossier, Steele accused Page of conspiring with Russians. Page was
not charged with any wrongdoing in either the FBI’s Russia probe or
Mueller’s.
Fox News exclusively obtained internal FBI text messages last
month showing that just nine days before the FBI applied for the Page
FISA warrant, 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.
Barr’s review could
also dovetail with the work U.S. Attorney John Huber has been doing. In
2017, former Attorney General Jeff Sessions appointed Huber to review
not only alleged surveillance abuses by the Justice Department and the
FBI but also the handling of the probe into the Clinton Foundation and
other matters.
The day following Barr’s release of his summary of
the Mueller report, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham,
R-S.C., said his panel also would investigate alleged FISA abuses at the
start of the Russia investigation and called on Barr to appoint a new
special counsel to investigate “the other side of the story.” Graham has
been calling for a second special counsel since 2017 to investigate
“whether or not a counterintelligence investigation was opened as a back
door to spy on the Trump campaign.”
Also, House Intelligence
Committee Ranking Member Devin Nunes, R-Calif., said over the weekend he
was preparing to send eight criminal referrals to the Justice
Department this week regarding alleged misconduct by DOJ and FBI
officials during the Trump-Russia investigation. It is unclear whom
Nunes will refer for investigation, and what the process at the Justice
Department might be.
When asked Tuesday about Nunes’ referrals,
Barr said he hasn’t seen them yet, but, “Obviously, if there is a
predicate for investigation, it will be conducted.”
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